No quit in Hie’s game
Thursday, July 21, 2005 By RUSS HELD
rheld@repub.comLONGMEADOW – Born in Indonesia.
Lives in California.
And feeling right at home at Longmeadow Country Club.
Rory Hie, 16, of Lakewood, Calif., is one of the world’s top junior golfers and yesterday was among 32 golfers to win first round matches at the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship.
Hie was a 2-and-1 winner over Aaron Peterson of Ann Arbor, Mich., and will meet David Chung of Fayetteville, N.C. today in the second round. Chung, a runner-up last year, was a 4-and-3 winner over Nick Taylor of Canada.
Hie is making his debut at the 58th national championship for males under 18, a week after he played in his first United States Golf Association championship.
Last week, Hie trailed 3 down with three holes to play before he won in extra holes at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. He reached the tournament’s quarterfinals Friday before losing and then heading to Longmeadow.
“Last week gave me a lot of confidence, it taught me never to give up,” said Hie, who has former club champion Greg Fisk of East Longmeadow as a caddie. “I had to birdie my last hole, then the first playoff hole just to qualify for this.”
Hie, who has been ranked second nationally for the last three years in the Golfweek rankings, was 2-down after nine holes yesterday. He won with eagle at the par-5 10th hole and par at No. 11 to square the match.
“I was just waiting to get into that zone and it finally clicked for me, at the 10th hole,” Hie said.
He made a 10-footer for a halving par save at the 12th and later won Nos. 15 and 16 with par and clinched with a par halve at the 17th.
Hie’s background includes winning The Golf Channel’s Drive, Chip and Putt title, first-team All-America honors and a spot on the 2004 Canon Cup team.
Rory is 2005 US APL Quarterfinalist
This morning Rory advanced to the third-round after winning his second-round match with Song Jeon of Korea.
He was up against Korey Mahoney of Michigan today afternoon, where he once again won the match and secured a position for the Quarterfinal against Martin Ureta of Chile tomorrow morning.
All eight quarterfinalists left in the tournament are automatically given exemption for 2006 US APL.
Rory (16) is one of the youngest players to compete in this tournament along with the famous Michelle Wie (15) of Hawaii, who is also among the eight quarterfinalists.
Click here to view Rory’s Score Card and the complete Match Play Tree of 2005 US APL
Rory Hie (Cerritos, Calif., 16): Born in Indonesia�Moved to the United States in 1999�Will be a senior at Cerritos High in the fall. Turns 17 on Sept. 1�Competing in first USGA event, but has qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur at Longmeadow (Mass.) Country Club July 18-23�Shot a 67 in sectional qualifying to tie the course record at Eagle Ridge Golf Course in Gilroy, Calif. � As a 13-year-old, he won The Golf Channel�s Drive Chip and Putt Championship for his age group�Lowest competitive score is a 61 at El Dorado Golf Club�Recorded his first hole-in-one as a 10-year-old at Heartwell Golf Course from 121 yards out with an 8-iron. It is the same course that Tiger Woods grew up playing�Won the 2004 AJGA Heather Farr Classic�Won 2004 AJGA Mission Hills Desert event�Won 2004 SCPGA Tournament of Champions�Runner-up at 2005 AJGA Heather Farr Classic�Was an AJGA Polo First-Team All-American for 2004�Member of the West team for the AJGA�s Canon Cup. Likes to eat roast beef sandwiches from a fast-food chain before a competitive round.
The comeback of the day belonged to 16-year-old Rory Hie of Cerritos, Calif. The Indonesian-born Hie was three down with three to play, but rallied for a 19-hole victory over Tye Alexander of Los Angeles. Hie won 16 with a par, eagled 17, parred 18 and then birdied the par-5 first hole to pull out the win. He�ll play Song Jeon of Korea in the second round.
Rory Hie of Cerritos, Calif., is no stranger to the spotlight. He won The Golf Channel’s Drive, Chip and Putt competition in 2002. He also was an American Junior Golf Association first-team All-American in 2004.
2005 US Amateur Public Links
Rory won his first-round match against Tye Alexander of Los Angeles at the 2005 Amateur Public Championship.
“The comeback of the day belonged to 16-year-old Rory Hie of Cerritos, Calif. The Indonesian-born Hie was three down with three to play, but rallied for a 19-hole victory over Tye Alexander of Los Angeles. Hie won 16 with a par, eagled 17, parred 18 and then birdied the par-5 first hole to pull out the win.”
For complete version of the First Round Match article, please click here. Link will open in a new window.
Rory will be playing Song Jeon of Korea tomorrow (07/14/2005) for his second-round match.
From Golfweek:
Rory Hie of Lakewood, Calif., made a big charge on his last four holes and defeated Tye Alexander of Puerto Rico in 19 holes. Alexander was 3 up with three holes to play. But Hie won the 16th with a par, the 17th with an eagle and the 18th with a par to send the match to extra holes. Hie closed it out with a birdie at the 19th hole, the 599-yard, par-5.