![]() ![]() Chris hoped he wouldn’t shoot 10 over and disqualify himself from trying again next year. He started his why-not? round hoping he’d shoot no worse than 5 over. Soong missed school Monday – a hazard of his life as a burgeoning golfer – to participate in his first U.S. Unified School District’s Thomas Starr King Middle School. Soong shot a two-birdie, two-bogey even-par 72 and then survived a one-hole playoff to claim a share of fourth place on Monday, when Orange’s Brenden Gonzalez was the medalist with a 4-under 68.Ĭalabasas’ Logan Lanier and La Jolla’s Michael Feuerstein also advanced with 70s, and so did Pacific Palisades’ Danny Wax, who finished tied with the 7th-grader from L.A. Open local qualifier at Brentwood Country Club, where he was, by far, the youngest of a field of 86 – and one of only five to move on to one of the 13 final qualifying sites scheduled between May 16 and June 5. Jaden listened again to Bryant’s message on Monday before the U.S. Thanks for sharing, Chris Soong! /96xNN0tuP2 He shot even to finish T4 – after getting hyped by watching this video Kobe Bryant made him in 2018. Spent Monday watching 13-year-old Soong school the grownups at U.S. But if you want to be great, if you want to feel what excellence feels like, you have to put in the work!” More than that, in a 40-second video, Bryant speaks passionately and off the cuff to a young athlete he’d never meet but whom he’d inspire with his words time and again: “Serena Williams hates practicing,” Bryant said, “but she hates losing more. That was Bryant speaking directly to Soong in a video message captured back in 2018 by his father, Chris, who met the Laker legend at a corporate event celebrating his successful investment in the sports drink BodyArmor.Ĭhris asked Bryant if he would say something quick to encourage Jaden to practice. With kids like Soong, who are being raised to believe that excellence comes when you “Put. That Mamba Mentality remains ubiquitous in L.A., on basketball courts, sure, but on golf courses too. The last one Monday – a nervy 12-foot putt in a playoff – secured the Burbank golfer’s spot in the final round of qualifying ahead of next month’s U.S. You’d have felt the essence of that familiar follow-throw, too, in 13-year-old Jaden Soong’s exultation: Another big shot swished. But if you listened closely, you’d have heard not just a roar, but an echo of something else too: Kobeeeee! LOS ANGELES - The fist pumps were straight out of Tiger Woods’ playbook. ![]()
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