LIer Liu surpasses Tiger in winning U.S. Junior

It became clear, not long after he won the first tournament he entered when he was 6 years old, that Jim Liu had a big future in golf. So the Smithtown youth and his father Yiming read about all the great teachers, with Jim deciding he would like to study with John Anselmo, who had taught Tiger Woods.

Liu, now 14, has proven to be another good student, Saturday surpassing even Woods to become the youngest champion in the 63-year history of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Liu left Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada, Mich., with the championship bowl that has both his and Woods' name inscribed on it. Woods won the Junior Amateur at 15.

"It's a great feeling to be on that list, I can't even put it into words," Liu said on the phone after having defeated 17-year-old Justin Thomas, 4 and 2, in the 36-hole final. "It just feels great to be mentioned with someone who has such a great place in the history of the game."

Playing in the most pressure-filled event of his life - he called the U.S. Golf Association event Saturday the biggest tournament in junior golf - Liu was at his best. Although golfers don't officially keep score in match play, what with short putts being conceded, he shot the equivalent of 8-under-par 64 in the morning round to take a 2-up lead over a friend who is headed to the University of Alabama.

Perhaps the turning point was his tee shot on the par-3 eighth hole of the morning round, which Liu put within a few inches of the cup. The birdie there brought Liu even. He took the lead on the 10th hole and never was caught, going into the afternoon round 3-up.

"Justin and I both played great. We just went out there and played golf, pure golf," Liu said. "It was really relaxed."

That sort of attitude would please the unassuming Anselmo, whom Liu visits several times a year in Southern California. "He's very, very nice and he does not have a big ego," Liu said of the man who never has been one to boast about being so influential with Woods.

Liu and his dad took up golf when the family moved from Little Neck to a house on the Stonebridge Golf Links. A lot of hard work followed. Liu plays often at Bethpage, having broken par on the Black and broken 70 on the Red, and practices at Hamlet Wind Watch. He entered the Long Island qualifiers for the U.S. Open the past two years.

"That helped me a lot," he said Saturday. "It taught me a lot about patience, and how to play on USGA setup courses."

After he missed the cut among pros at Noyac Golf Club in May, he said he had a new appreciation for putting on USGA-caliber greens. His putting was strong Saturday.

"A lot of players, after winning a big one, they kind of fade away. I have to try and not do that," he said, adding that he is aiming for this year's U.S. Men's Amateur at Chambers Bay in Tacoma, Wash. He sure will have stories to tell when he begins his sophomore year at the Knox School in September - such as explaining how he broke a Tiger Woods record.

"I think it's my patience," he said, "And that I just love to play golf."