Philip Francis: For years the two East Valley tournaments on the American Junior Golf Association circuit – the Heather Farr Classic and Thunderbird International -- were won by players who lived in other states. But that all changed when Scottsdale’s Philip Francis won both events during the past two months.

The 17-year-old Francis ran away with the Heather Farr in April, winning by six shots. Then he rallied from back in the pack on Monday with a closing, 7-under-par 65 that was two strokes better than Scottsdale’s Tim McKenney and Florida’s Arnond Vongvanij.

“Playing with Arnond and Jamie (Lovemark) really took my game to the next level,’’ said Francis, who ended up 10-under 206 on the Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. “Arnond beat me in the match play at the U.S. Boys Junior (Championship), so I guess this was a little revenge to beat him here.’’

Another kid that Francis bested in a big way was Peter Uihlein, the top-ranked junior in the country from Florida. Uihlein, who snatched the No. 1 tag from Francis in March after Francis’ one-year run at the top, ended up 19 shots behind Francis.

What does it mean? Well, the next time the Golfweek/Titleist junior world rankings are released (the last update was May 15), guess who will be No. 1? Not everybody will be happy, however, as Uihlein is the son of Acushnet-Titleist CEO Wally Uihlein.

“This event has one of the best -- if not the best -- field in junior golf,’’ Francis said of his latest victory. “I have prepared a lot over the past couple of years, and it’s really starting to show.’’

Of course, to come up big in your own backyard also feels pretty good, even if you have won over 100 junior tournaments throughout your brief career, as Francis has done.

“But winning the Thunderbird is definitely the biggest win of my career,’’ Francis concluded.

In the girls division, Florida’s Isabelle Lendl, the 14-year-old daughter of tennis great Ivan Lendl, edged Scottsdale’s Esther Choe by one stroke. Choe had been the 36-hole leader at both the Heather Farr and Thunderbird.

As part of the tournament, the Thunderbirds asked each junior participant to name their favorite charity, to which $1,000 donations were made to 45 charities. Francis designated his $1,000 for City of Hope, while Choe picked Daring Adventures.

NOTEWORTHY

Big sweep: Amanda Blumenherst, the former Scottsdale resident who recently completed her freshman season at Duke, finished off her initial year in college in a big way. First, she helped the Blue Devils win the recent NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. Then, she was named first-team All-American as well as the 2006 National Golf Coaches Association’s player of the year. Wait, we’re not finished. Blumenherst also was named the freshman of the year, and earned the Edith Cummings Munson Award for the top scholar-athlete. Congratulations, Amanda.

Strong showing: Last weekend’s Southern Arizona Amateur had a strong showing among East Valley golfers. Tucson’s Jeremy Defalco was the winner at Rio Rico Golf and Country Club, with the Scottsdale tandem of Yu Katayama and Dan Saltz finishing second and third, respectively. Flight winners included Rick Bojalad of Scottsdale and Scott Koversdy of Chandler.

Registration: The Southwest Section of the PGA is now accepting applications for the SWPGA Westfield Junior PGA Championship, which will be held June 28-29 at Cottonwood Country Club in Sun Lakes. Qualifying at nine locations throughout Arizona begins June 9. For information, visit www.southwest.pga.com.

PRO RANKS

Another cut? Jay Haas can reach a milestone this week on the PGA Tour should he make the cut at The Memorial. Haas, who has 589 cuts throughout his career on the regular tour, would tie all-time leader Tom Kite, who has made 590.

Left-handed compliment: The PGA Tour has a record 10 lefties with some type of playing status in 2006 – Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir, Nick O’Hern, Steve Flesch, Russ Cochran, B.J. Staten, John Engler Jr., Bubba Watson, Greg Chalmers and Eric Axley. The previous high for lefties was six.

Decision time: Fred Funk turns 50 on June 14. But Funk says he wants to make the 2006 Ryder Cup team, so he’ll stick with the PGA Tour rather than play on the Champions Tour. Considering he is No. 22 on the Ryder Cup points list, he might want to rethink his options.