Hagestad takes lead in opening round

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — This week started out well for Stewart Hagested, but it keeps getting better.

On Monday, Hagestad, a Newport Beach resident, shot two-under par at Big Canyon Country Club to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Open Championship. On Thursday, Hagestad decided that one huge performance was not enough for this week.

Hagestad shot seven-under-par 65 Thursday at the Optimist International Junior Championships at PGA national golf resort. He is sitting atop the leaderboard going into today’s second day.

“I did work out there today,” Hagestad said in a phone interview. “I was hitting putts all day and going down the stretch, I just felt really good.”

Hagestad tees off this morning at 7:30 and is hoping to keep up his fantastic play and redeem himself for last year’s Optimist International.

In 2007, Hagestad finished in a three-way tie for second and went back to this year’s Optimist with a winning mentality. And if that mentality gets coupled with his aggressive, low-scoring game, it has the potential to produce four days of seven-under rounds.

But early thoughts of winning the tournament are not a part of Hagestad’s agenda. Young golfers usually have the tendency to get ahead of themselves in long tournaments like the Optmist. But this 17-year-old said he remains composed and focused on his next round.

“I have to forget about it,” said Hagestad, who has committed to USC. “It’s a long tournament and I have to tell myself, ‘I did nothing [Thursday]. Just forget about it and keep playing.’ ”

Hagestad not only has to keep playing, but keep playing at a high level. The other golfers are right on his heels after the first day and Hagestad will need to keep posting rounds like the one he did Thursday in order to fend off the field.

Emiliano Grillo of Argentina is one stroke behind Hagestad and Jisso Park of Centreville, Va. is only three strokes back. With the low-scoring conditions of the course, the tournament remains wide open.

The four-round Optimist tournament runs through Sunday and the junior golfers’ progress can be tracked online at www.optimist.org/golf. Scores and tee times are updated daily, and general photos and news updates about activities on and off the golf course will be available throughout the tournament.

In a field of 159 golfers in the boys’ 16-18 year-old division, Hagestad has his work cut out for him going into the last three rounds of the tournament.

— Compiled by Mark Ratto