Sports

Kropp shoots 66 at Western Am

Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:44 AM EDT

BENTON HARBOR - Will Kropp, a University of Georgia freshman, crafted a 4-under-par 66 Wednesday in his first competitive round at Point O'Woods Golf & Country Club to take the first-round lead in the 2008 Western Amateur.

Judson "Jude" Eustaquio, a native of the Philippines, was one stroke back at 67, with a crowd of 10 two shots back at 68.

"I had a good feeling starting the day, but you never know," said Kropp, 18, of Edmond, Okla. "I drove the ball really well and hit most of the fairways, and I hit my irons well. Once I started to get the feel of the greens, I made some putts."

Kropp, who started his round on the back nine, birdied the par 4, 398-yard 10th before bogeying the 11th and 12th.

"I tried to stay patient, and it seemed to work out pretty well," he said.

Back-to-back birdies on two tough par fours, the 447-yard sixth and the 460-yard seventh, vaulted Kropp to the top of the leaderboard.

Playing in his first Western Amateur, Kropp enjoyed the pristine conditions at Point O'Woods.

"The course is great," he said. "It's in great condition, and the greens are really good. It was fun. We'll see how the rest of the week goes. Tomorrow ... I'm just going to go out like it's the first round again."

Kropp helped lead his Edmond North High School to four straight Oklahoma 6A championships. A 2006 and 2007 AJGA honorable mention All-American, he placed second in the 2008 Thunderbird International Junior and reached the semifinals of the 2007 Polo Junior Classic. He went 4-0 in the 2007 Canon Cup matches and won the 2007 OSSO Junior title. He also won the 2006 AJGA Wildcat Classic.

Eustaquio, 20, of Lake Worth, Fla., came to the United States five years ago from his hometown of Tay Tay, in the Philippines , as an exchange student at West Palm Beach High School. Showing promise as a junior golfer, he and his parents decided he should stay.

"There's no future in golf in my country, so my parents figured it would be best for me to move here and play here," said Eustaquio, who has returned home to visit just twice in the past five years.

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