Paulson in Masters for First Time

Dennis Paulson, a graduate of Costa Mesa High, is playing in the Masters for the first time this week in Augusta, Ga.

Paulson qualified by virtue of his 27th-place finish on the 1999 PGA Tour money list. Paulson had two second-place finishes in 1999 and placed in the top 10 seven times. The top 40 on the final money list each year qualify for the next Masters.

He is 94th on the current money list with a season-best 18th-place finish at the Nissan Open in February.

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Hunter Mahan of McKinney, Texas, formerly of Yorba Linda, has been granted a sponsor’s exemption into the PGA Tour’s Greater Hartford Open.

Mahan, who has signed with USC, is ranked No. 1 in the boys’ national rankings. He was the AJGA Player of the Year in 1999.

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USC freshman Yon Yim, a Woodbridge High School graduate, finished 12th in the Hawaii Rainbow tournament last week at the Olomana Golf Links in Honolulu.

The Trojans, playing without top player Candie Kung, finished third behind Arizona and Pepperdine. Kung, a graduate of Fountain Valley High, is ranked No. 4 in the nation. She missed the tournament because she played in the LPGA Nabisco Championship.