Atherton's Edan Cui tearing up junior golf

And Cui is only getting better. The 14 year old has won his last three tournaments — the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation World Teen Championships in July and then at the beginning of August, won his first American Junior Golf Association tournament, winning the UHY New York Junior Championship.

Cui then made it 3 for 3 by winning the AJGA Junior All-Star tournament at Stanford this week, finishing with a 15-under 205, seven strokes better than runner-up Eric Yun of Menlo School.

Not only is Cui winning, it’s how he’s doing it. He has shot nine straight rounds of under-par golf and if you add the 8-under 63 he shot at Stanford during a practice round last Monday, it’s 10 consecutive rounds under par.

He started his run of sub-par rounds at the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation. He was 2-under for his first round and followed with a 5-under 67 and a 6-under 66.

In New York, he opened with a 6-under 66, followed with a 2-under 70 and closed with a 5-under 67 — punctuating his title with an eagle on final hole.

Is this the best Cui has played?

“I think I am (at the top of my game),” Cui said. “I’m probably playing my best golf in a long time. Probably (the best) of my entire career.”

Cui said the practice round at Stanford was not necessarily one he was using to go low. It was more just to get re-familiarized with a course he has already played a lot. He parlayed that practice round 63 into the same score during the first round of the Stanford tournament. He then followed that up a round of 6-under 66 and closed with a 2-under 69.

“The practice round wasn’t mainly about the score,” Cui said. “It’s about trying to understand the course.”

As Cui and his game have grown and matured, so has his role models. Phil Mickelson will always be among Cui’s favorites as they share the same birthday. And Cui admits that his strong wedge play was a direct result of watching Mickelson.

“When I was first starting out, I learned almost all my short game from watching Phil on video,” Cui said.

But now he has another player on which to model his game. Like Cui, Collin Morikawa is not the longest hitter off the tee. But the Cal graduate may be the best iron striker in the world right now. Morikawa’s win at the 2020 PGA Championship and this year’s British Open is further proof you don’t need to bomb it 400 yards off the tee to be successful.

“He’s not even ranked in the top 50 (in driving distance), but his greens-in-regulation is No. 1 and that comes from his irons and his (fairway) woods,” Cui said. “He’s kind of who I want to be.”

The Stanford tournament, however, signals the end of Cui’s summer season. While he’ll spend the next several months practicing and playing in a few tournaments, he will turn his attention to school and playing with the Gryphons’ golf team.

“I know [high school] will be much more busy than eighth grade,” Cui said. “What we’re trying to do is, for the first month of the school year, and maybe more, just try to correct some parts of my techniques, so when it comes to next summer, I can play at an even higher level.”

As for his future, of course Cui would love to become a professional golfer. But he has a ways to go before getting there. In the meantime, he’ll focus on getting to college and seeing where things go from there.

“I think the first step would be going to college and then playing college golf,” Cui said. “If I’m performing well enough to turn pro, that would be amazing.

“But if not, that’s OK, too. I’ll be fine pursuing another career.”