GOLF / SCGA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP : Tijuana’s Corral Emerges From the Pack of Talented Junior Players

SANTA ANA — Jorge Corral hadn’t gained much attention on the golf course before Saturday’s third round of the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur championship.

Corral, 18, from Tijuana, had played well in some age-group tournaments and will attend USC in the fall. But he was still seeking a significant achievement that would distinguish him from the droves of talented Southern California junior golfers.

Well, he accomplished that and much more with a course-record 63 at the Santa Ana Country Club. His round, which included eight birdies and no bogeys, vaulted him into second place entering today’s final round.

He had rounds of 76 and 73 Friday and is at 212. Charlie Wi of North Hills, the second-round leader, shot 71 Saturday and leads at 210.

Corral, who teed off a half-hour before the leaders, started his assault right away with birdies on the first two holes. He also birdied the fifth and sixth holes and closed out a front-nine 31 with a birdie on No. 9. He added birdies on the 10th and 11th holes and was seven under for the day after the first 11 holes.

“I was kind of calm,” Corral said. “My dad helped me a lot. I just went out with a clear mind and things started to happen.”

He made his last birdie on the par-five 15th. He birdied all four par-fives.

As the pressure grew, he stayed steady and made a five-foot putt for par on the par-three 17th. Then, with about 45 people watching on the par-four, 438-yard 18th, he two-putted from about 40 feet to close out his record-setting round. His second putt, from about a foot, rolled halfway around the lip of the cup before falling.

“Toward the end I started to think about what I might shoot,” he said. “That made 18 very hard.”

The final hole caused Wi much more than mental anguish. Wi had played solid much of the round, rolling in four consecutive birdies starting at the ninth hole.

But his tee-shot on the par-three 17th landed in a sand trap and he bogeyed. Then on No. 18 he hit a three-wood off the tee to avoid the right rough, which he was in twice Friday.

His shot was in the middle of the fairway but he still had 215 yards to the green into a stiff breeze. He hit another three-wood but it was about 20 yards short of the pin and just rolled into the lake that guards the right front of the green.

He finished with a double-bogey six.

Wi, Corral and James Lundstrom, who is at 214, will make up the final group that tees off at 9:14 today.

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Tournament Notes

Jeff Sanady (215) of South Pasadena, Don DuBoise (217) of Coto de Caza and Steve Grace (217) of San Gabriel are in the second-to-last group, which goes off at 9:06 a.m. today. DuBoise, the low scorer from Orange County, shot 72 Saturday. Rick Talt of Laguna Beach shot a 74 and is at 223. Rick Herrera of Orange shot 75 and is at 227, along with former Saddleback College standout Jason Reeder, who also shot 75. Boyd Martin of Corona del Mar shot 79 and is at 230.