Janice Kim Claims MN PGA Junior Match Play Championship at Cragun's

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By Chris Rocheford, MN PGA Communications Director.

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 3, 2017) —Top-seed Janice Kim of Edina had all parts of her game on full display as she cruised to victory in the Girls Players Tour Match Play Championship at Cragun's Dutch Legacy. Kim defeated Isabella McCauley of Inver Grove Heights 3&2 in the championship match.

"Coming into this tournament I was really struggling with my irons," emphasized Kim. "I just had to trust everything and my preparation and it ended up working out. I putted really well which is kind of what saved me."

Kim was impressive the past two days as she won her first two matches, including the second over her older sister Joanna, 6&4 and 5&4, respectively. She added a semifinal victory over Cayla Kim 3&2 to punch her ticket into the championship match.

This victory meant a lot to Kim as last year she was the runner-up in this event and earlier this year she saw her victory in the Minnesota Junior PGA Championship slip away down the stretch.

"I took second last year, so this means a lot to me," she added. "I had a four-putt on the 14th that broke my confidence a bit but I bounced back and was able to get it done."

McCauley, a 13-year-old and the sixth seed, just couldn't quite muster up the performance she had hoped for after defeating Molly Stevens in 20 holes in her semifinal match. Nonetheless, she has shown tremendous composure and talent beyond her years. McCauley most notably won last year's Warrior Cup, which boasted a field consisting of tournament winners from earlier that year, in the 13-15 age division—as a 12-year-old.

In the boys' match play semifinals (beginning Friday at 7:30 a.m.), Jacob Pedersen, of Shorewood, faces Walker Reyes, of Mankato, and Luke Alexander, of Rochester, squares off against Brady Arnett, of Woodbury. 

For the girls' match-play bracketts, click here; for the boys', click here.