Golf News for Monday, July 6, 2009 | Tournaments

T.J. Vogel captures victory at Rolex Tournament of Champions

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The conclusion of the Rolex Tournament of Champions was a nail-biting finish as fans anxiously watched Byeong-hun An, T.J. Vogel and Gavin Hall, who ended the final round at 6-under-par 282, battle in a playoff Saturday. In the end, T.J. Vogel of Cooper City, Fla., came up victorious after an eagle on the second playoff hole. Victoria Tanco of Bradenton, Fla., kept her momentum from the first three rounds to fire a record-low score in the Girls Division with a 13-under-par 275.

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Rolex Tournament of Champions was a 72-hole stroke play event held at Dalhousie Golf Club. The 144-player field featured players from 30 states and six foreign countries. The Boys Division played the par-72 Dalhousie Golf Club at 7,282 yards, while the Girls Division played at 6,304 yards. This year marks the 32nd edition of the AJGA's flagship tournament. Past champions of this event include David Duval, Charles Howell III, Jamie Lovemark, Phil Mickelson, Grace Park, In-BeePark and Morgan Pressel.

Vogel held the lead coming into the final round, but An and Hall were determined to put up a fight. The three participated in the first Rolex Tournament of Champions Boys Division playoff since 1998. Vogel, playing in his last AJGA event before he attends the University of Southern California in the fall, earned his first AJGA win.

Each player made birdie on their first playoff hole, sending them back to the 18th tee to try it again, as rain started to fall on the gallery amassed at the 18th green.

"On No. 18 (the second playoff hole), I was about 185 yards to the flag and got up there and knew this was my shot," Vogel said.

Vogel's second shot landed three feet left of the green, and he was left with a delicate 18-foot attempt at eagle. With Hall and An staring down short birdie putts, Vogel needed to hole his chip to end the playoff. As Vogel struck the ball, the downslope of the green carried the ball at perfect speed all the way to the hole. The crowd roared with applause and the rains fell hard, as the playoff ended with not a moment to spare.

"This is one of the best tournaments of the year and to win my last AJGA event against the best means so much to me," Vogel said. "You have to play solid four days in a row and I did that."

Tied for second were An, also of Bradenton, and Hall of Pittsford, N.Y. Two strokes back and tied for fourth were Shun Yat Hak of Lake Mary, Fla., and Johnathan Schnitzer of Houston at 4-under-par 284.

Tanco, who led the Girls Division wire to wire, carded a 3-under-par 33 on the front nine to run away with the lead. A finishing total of 13-under-par 275 broke the girls' tournament record of 282; set by Christy Erb in 1987.

"I started my round really good and made my birdies early," Tanco said. "I had a seven-stroke lead after the front nine and I was confident after that. It always feels great to win an invitational because they are the biggest events in the AJGA, but winning this feels unbelievable because all the players are so good."

Karen Chung of Livingston, N.J., started the final round one stroke off the lead, but finished second at 4-under-par 284. Coming in one stroke behind Chung in third place was Ani Gulugian of Irvine, Calif., at 3-under-par 285.

Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. Along with sponsoring the Rolex Tournament of Champions, Rolex is also the title partner of the Rolex Girls Junior Championship and the proprietors of the Rolex Junior All-America Teams.

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and 25 foreign countries.

Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 200 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 350 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.

For more information about the Rolex Tournament of Champions, please contact National Headquarters at 770-848-4200 or visit ajga.org.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Second-round results from the Rolex Tournament of Champions conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at
Dalhousie Golf Club.

Par: Boys: 36-36—72; Girls: 36-36—72.
Yardage: Boys: 7,282; Girls: 6,304.
Rating/Slope: Boys: 75/137; Girls: 76.4/135.

BOYS DIVISION
Talor Gooch, Midwest City, Okla. 68-69—137
Gavin Hall, Pittsford, N.Y. 70-69—139
* T.J. Vogel, CooperCity, Fla. 69-71—140
Johnathan Schnitzer, Houston, Texas 68-73—141
Yaroslav Merkulov, Penfield, N.Y. 70-71—141
Blake Biddle, St. Charles, Ill. 71-70—141
Emiliano Grillo, Resistencia, Argentina 73-69—142
Michael Weaver, Fresno, Calif. 67-75—142
C.J. Kim, Chandler, Ariz. 73-69—142
Brandon Rodgers, Knoxville, Tenn. 73-69—142
Byeong-hun An, Bradenton, Fla. 70-72—142
Shun Yat Hak, Lake Mary, Fla. 73-70—143
Blake Morris, Waterbury, Conn. 70-73—143
Matthew Ceravolo, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. 72-72—144
Jeffrey Kang, Fullerton, Calif. 69-75—144
Anthony Paolucci, Dallas, Texas 71-73—144
Austin Cook, Jonesboro, Ark. 69-75—144
Zachary Herr, New Hope, Pa. 74-70—144
Kramer Hickok, Plano, Texas 72-72—144
Smylie Kaufman, Birmingham, Ala. 73-71—144
Landon Tujague, Dallas, Texas 75-69—144
Jay Vandeventer, Bristol, Tenn. 71-73—144
Patrick Cantlay, Los Alamitos, Calif. 71-74—145
Shane Lebow, Santa Barbara, Calif. 76-69—145
Lucas Bjerregaard, Frederikshavn, Denmark 75-70—145
Daniel Lee, Valencia, Calif. 74-72—146
Billy Kennerly, Alpharetta, Ga. 70-76—146
Michael Sorenson, Hartland, Wis. 74-72—146
Kyle Kmiecik, Avon, Ohio 72-74—146
Patrick Rodgers, Avon, Ind. 73-73—146
Ian McConnell, Riverview, Fla. 77-69—146
Zhong Yang Fu, Bradenton, Fla. 70-76—146
Michael Cromie, Cary, N.C. 74-72—146
Jim Liu, Smithtown, N.Y. 74-73—147
Justin Thomas, Goshen, Ky. 70-77—147
Anton Arboleda, La Canada, Calif. 74-73—147
Robert Register, Burlington, N.C. 71-76—147

MISSED THE CUT
Michael Yiu, Laguna Hills, Calif. 71-77—148
Eduardo Castiello, Zapopan, Mexico 71-77—148
Colton Staggs, Tulsa, Okla. 72-76—148
Ramsey Sahyoun, Reseda, Calif. 72-76—148
Chris Worrell, Enid, Okla. 71-78—149
Tom Lovelady, Birmingham, Ala. 71-78—149
Joey Garber, Petoskey, Mich. 76-73—149
Jesse Droemer, Sealy, Texas 79-70—149
Landon Lyons, Baton Rouge, La. 77-72—149
Curtis Thompson, Coral Springs, Fla. 71-78—149
Dominic Bozzelli, Pittsford, N.Y. 79-70—149
Juan Pablo Hernandez, Mexico City, Mexico 74-75—149
Ryan Zech, Kearney, Mo. 74-75—149
Richard Werenski, South Hadley, Mass. 74-75—149
Davis Lee, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 80-70—150
Cody Kent, Castle Rock, Colo. 76-74—150
Joaquin Lolas , Lima, Peru 71-79—150
Nicholas Losole III, Scottsdale, Ariz. 71-79—150
Will Pearson, Memphis, Tenn. 75-75—150
Shawn Yim, Buford, Ga. 72-78—150
Alberto Sanchez, Nogales, Ariz. 75-75—150
Adam Sumrall, South Bend, Ind. 71-79—150
Kevin Gillick, Lincoln, Neb. 71-80—151
Kevin Phelan, St. Augustine, Fla. 75-76—151
Zachary Balit, Bradenton, Fla. 77-74—151
Curtis Reed, Castroville, Texas 77-75—152
Stewart Hagestad, Newport Beach, Calif. 75-77—152
Austin Roberts, Carmichael, Calif. 75-78—153
Mike Genovese, Pensacola, Fla. 74-79—153
Rak Cho, Brea, Calif. 79-75—154
M.J. Maguire, St.Petersburg, Fla. 75-79—154
Logan McCracken, Oklahoma City, Okla. 77-79—156
Franco Castro, Alpharetta, Ga. 78-79—157
Andrew Presley, Fort Worth, Texas 78-79—157
Alex Edfort, Somerset, N.J. 75-82—157
Patrick Winther, Howey in the Hills, Fla. 81-77—158
Seth Reeves, Duluth, Ga. 79-79—158
Trent Hillis, Poplar Bluff, Mo. 78-81—159
Jay Burlison, Salinas, Calif. 83-77—160
Patrick Grimes, Palo Alto, Calif. 83-82—165
Tye Beall, El Paso, Texas DQ - Rule 6-6b (NC)

GIRLS DIVISION
Victoria Tanco, Bradenton, Fla. 66-72—138
Nicole Zhang, Calgary, Alberta 69-70—139
Alexis Thompson, Coral Springs, Fla. 71-70—141
Karen Chung, Livingston, N.J. 74-68—142
Ani Gulugian, Irvine, Calif. 70-72—142
Doris Chen, Bradenton, Fla. 70-72—142
Emilie Burger, Hoschton, Ga. 71-72—143
Jennifer Johnson, La Quinta, Calif. 71-74—145
Kelly Shon, Port Washington, N.Y. 75-70—145
Maria Piccio, Bradenton, Fla. 72-73—145
Kendall Martindale, Jefferson City, Tenn. 72-73—145
Annie Park, Levittown, N.Y. 71-75—146
Luz Alejandra Cangrejo, Bogota, Colombia 72-74—146
Rachel Morris, Carlsbad, Calif. 74-72—146
Kyle Roig, Pembroke Pines, Fla. 74-72—146
Danielle Frasier, Encinitas, Calif. 74-72—146
Beverly Vatananugulkit, Cerritos, Calif. 77-70—147
Victoria Sungmin Park, Irvine, Calif. 70-77—147
Meredith Swanson, Roanoke, Va. 75-72—147
Grace Na, Oakland, Calif. 73-74—147
Lauren Weaver, Scottsdale, Ariz. 73-75—148
Austin Ernst, Seneca, S.C. 70-78—148
Kyung Kim, Chandler, Ariz. 72-77—149
Jennifer Yang, Coquitlam, British Columbia 74-75—149
Hana Lee, Hacienda Heights, Calif. 73-76—149
Michelle Yang, Los Angeles, Calif. 71-78—149
Emily Tubert, Burbank, Calif. 72-78—150
Amelia Lewis, Jacksonville, Fla. 73-77—150
Casey Grice, College Station, Texas 74-76—150
Jenny Shin, Torrance, Calif. 75-75—150
Alexandra Stewart, Peoria, Ariz. 77-73—150
Yueer Cindy Feng, Orlando, Fla. 77-73—150

MISSED THE CUT
Emma Talley, Princeton, Ky. 76-75—151
Esther Lee, Los Alamitos, Calif. 77-74—151
Christina Miller, Bradenton, Fla. 75-77—152
Amy Meier, Rochester Hills, Mich. 79-73—152
Shannon Aubert, Orlando, Fla. 74-78—152
Erynne Lee, Silverdale, Wash. 75-77—152
Lindsey Weaver, Scottsdale, Ariz. 75-78—153
Ginger Howard, Bradenton, Fla. 74-80—154
Natalie Reeves, Fort Worth, Texas 80-74—154
Tessa The, Los Altos, Calif. 73-81—154
Amy Ruengmateekhun, Garland, Texas 78-76—154
Katrina Hegge, Seattle, Wash. 79-75—154
Kristen Park, Buena Park, Calif. 78-76—154
Valentina Fontaine, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 77-78—155
Emma Lavy, Fayetteville, Ark. 78-77—155
Regina Rosas Lopez Yañez, Durango, Mexico 78-78—156
Kristina Nhim, Buena Park, Calif. 81-75—156
Simin Feng, Orlando, Fla. 74-82—156
Marika Liu, Beverly Hills, Calif. 83-74—157
Laura Camila Blanco Trujillo, Bogota, Colombia 80-77—157
Courtney McKim, Raleigh, N.C. 79-79—158
Casey Ann Kennedy, Venice, Fla. 81-77—158
Veronica Valerio, Temecula, Calif. 79-80—159
Tiffany Lim, San Jose, Calif. 80-79—159
Olivia Chang, San Lorenzo, Calif. 83-76—159
Kayli Quinton, Cypress, Texas 78-82—160
Bonnie Hu, Fremont, Calif. 80-80—160
Kelli Oride, Lihue, Hawaii 77-83—160
Elizabeth Brightwell, Nellysford, Va. 78-82—160
Michelle Butler, Dunedin, Fla. 78-82—160
Kaitlyn Rohrback, Crofton, Md. 82-82—164
Brigitte Baker, McLean, Va. 81-84—165
Cassie Rushing, Marion, Ill. 82-83—165
Emily Gimpel, Lafayette Hill, Pa. 86-88—174

* Won Sudden-Death Playoff
** NC=No Card



 
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