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Junior OB Winners Are Chasing Legends

For a couple of teenagers, Mizuki Hashimoto of Japan and Andrey Borges of Brazil have managed to put themselves in lofty company.

Hashimoto and Borges won the Junior Orange Bowl International Amateur Championship, held Jan. 3-6 at the historic Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables.

What did that mean?

Well, when you win the same trophy that Tiger Woods (1991) and Lexi Thompson (2009) took home, that’s a pretty big deal.

OK, girls’ winner Hashimoto and boys’ winner Borges understand that matching the accomplishments of Woods and Thompson is a lottery longshot. However, they both smile about being in their company and neither is afraid to dream of the future success of claiming a spot on the PGA or LPGA tours.

“I can’t even explain how I’m feeling right now,” Borges said after hearing his name being mentioned in the same sentence as Woods’.

“I’m just very happy,” said Hashimoto, who has competed in only two 72-hole tournaments in her life. In her native Japan, nearly all amateur tournaments are 54 holes. Hashimoto even admitted midway through the tournament,

“I got tired.”

Borges eked out a one-stroke victory over Jose Luis Ballester Barrio of Spain.

He needed some help to secure it. As he stood on the 18th tee, Borges thought he had the tournament wrapped up, needing only a par on the not overly difficult Par 5.

After hitting his drive, he found out he was oh-so-wrong.

As he walked down the 18th fairway, Brazilian female teammate and friend Beatriz Junqueira came running toward him to warn him that he needed a birdie to assure himself of victory.

“I didn’t know that,” Borges said, “I thought I was OK.”

He wasn’t, but quickly made sure he was.

After his drive, Borges put his approach shot just short of the green and then calmly chipped to 3 feet and rolled in the short putt to close out a 4-under-par 280.

Borges (70-70-69-71) was the only golfer to shoot par or better in all four of his rounds.

Hashimoto also had an interesting outing on her final hole.

She was more than correct to feel comfortable with a three-stroke lead – until she hit her drive down the left side of the fairway and it smacked into a tree. Not a crisis, until no one could find the ball.

So, Hashimoto, who started the day with a six-stroke advantage, trekked back to the tee and was hitting three with a stroke and distance penalty.

“I got very nervous … very, very nervous,” Hashimoto said through a translator. “Even before losing the ball I was very worried.”

Hashimoto managed a bogey on the final hole for a two-stroke triumph. Even so, she said she was “still nervous, even after the final putt.”

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