Huntsville sophomore misses playoff by one shot
MURRELL’S INLET, S.C. – Huntsville’s Tyler Watts gave it his best shot but came up one shot short of making it into a playoff Sunday at the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship.
Watts, a Huntsville High School sophomore who opened with 75 in Friday’s first round, shot 69-69 on the weekend to get within a shot of the playoff. His 213 total left him with a solo third place finish behind Ethan Paschal and Jackson Herrington.
Watts led a four-man contingent from Alabama into the Dustin Johnson World Junior. Last summer, Watts made Alabama golf history when he became the youngest winner of the Alabama Men’s Amateur Championship.
Birmingham’s Chase Kyes shot 71-72-76 to finish tied for 11th place at 219. Enterprise’s Jon Ed Steed shot 72-78-72 to finish T23 at 222. Haleyville’s Hudson Lawson shot 75-77-75 to finish T37 at 227.
Paschal (Fayetteville, N.C.) birdied the first playoff hole to cap a stunning rally while Vanessa Borovilos (Toronto, Canada) cruised en route to victory in the girls division in the tournament played at TPC Myrtle Beach.
A come-from-behind win
Paschal trailed by as many as five strokes in the final round but rode a furious back nine rally to victory. The University of North Carolina signee was 1-over on the day before catching fire and birdieing holes 13, 14, 15 and 18, to shoot 69 and force the playoff.
Conversely, Jackson Herrington (Dickson, Tenn.) appeared to be cruising to victory before making bogey on the par-3 No. 17 and the par-5 18th, allowing Paschal to draw even at 4-under par after 54 holes.
The sudden-death playoff was contested on No. 18 and Paschal earned the win in the ninth annual DJ World Junior by rolling in a five-foot birdie putt.
Nashville’s Blades Brown takes 4th
Blades Brown (Nashville, Tenn.), America’s No. 1 ranked junior, according to Junior Golf Scoreboard, shot a final round 70 and finished in fourth place with a cumulative score of 2-under par.
On a difficult day for scoring, Borovilos’ s 75 was good enough to maintain the three-shot advantage she had entering the final round. She finished the event at even par, three clear of Mia Hammond (New Albany, Ohio), Brynn Kort (Henderson, Nev.) and Ryleigh Knaub (DeBary, Fla.).
A Texas A&M signee, Borovilos is the fifth ranked junior girl in America, according to JGS, and she was never seriously threatened over the final 18 holes by a field that included 26 top 100 girls. TPC Myrtle Beach presented a demanding test and the key to Borovilos’s victory was her ability to avoid the big number, as she made just eight bogeys all weekend, the lowest number in the field.
For more information, visit www.worldjuniorgolfchampionship.com.
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Featured image of Tyler Watts courtesy of the Alabama Golf Association
