BRASELTON, Ga. -- Jordan Spieth, 16, of Dallas, and Victoria Tanco, 15, of Bradenton, Fla., were named the Rolex Junior Players of the Year by the American Junior Golf Association, the AJGA announced Wednesday. By earning Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors for the second straight year, Tanco has become the fourth girl in the AJGA's 32-year history to win the award in back-to-back years.
Introduced by the AJGA in 1978, the Rolex Junior Player of the Year award recognizes one boy and one girl who had the most outstanding year in junior golf events at the national level. Past recipients have gone on to become some of the most esteemed players on the PGA and LPGA Tours, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, Scott Verplank, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.
Both ended the season ranked No. 1 in the Polo Golf Rankings, helping them earn this distinction and secure spots on their respective Rolex Junior All-America First Teams.
A two-time first-team selection, Spieth ascended to the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings after winning the U.S. Junior Amateur in July. His 2009 season also included runner-up finishes at the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and the Junior PGA Championship. In all, Spieth posted top-10 finishes at each of the eight national tournaments in which he competed.
"It was my No. 1 goal at the beginning of the year and I'm excited to have accomplished my goal," Spieth said. "I am looking forward to the next couple seasons because the AJGA has been such a huge influence on my life. I'll be trying to do the same thing again next year, but knowing the competition, it's going to be really difficult."
Tanco earned her second Rolex Junior Player of the Year crown behind the strength of three victories and five other top-10 finishes in national tournaments. Wins at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and Mizuno Junior at Innisbrook highlighted a slate that also included a runner-up finish at The PING Invitational. Tanco joins Beth Bauer (1997-98), Kellee Booth (1992-93), and Vicki Goetze (1988-90) as the only girls that have won consecutive Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors.
"It is a great honor to be the Rolex Junior Player of the Year again," Tanco said. "There are so many good players that I didn't expect this and it is a great accomplishment."
Their accomplishments during the past season will be heralded Nov. 22 during the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The awards ceremony, dubbed "The Greatest Night in Junior Golf," will also trumpet the achievements of the rest of golf's next generation by means of the Rolex Junior All-America Teams, HP Scholastic Junior All-America Teams and Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award.
About Jordan Spieth's 2009 Season
Spieth began the 2009 campaign No. 3 in the Polo Golf Rankings. He backed up this ranking with a second-place finish at the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, which was the first of his six top-five finishes on the year.
The months of May and June produced two more solid finishes at AJGA Invitationals, as a tie for seventh at the Thunderbird International Junior and a fourth-place showing at the FootJoy Invitational gave him momentum going into July.
Spieth solidified himself as the Rolex Junior Player of the Year front-runner at the U.S. Junior Amateur, held at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., July 20-25. He earned medalist honors after carding a 6-under-par total during the 36-hole qualifying, and followed it with six wins in match play on his way to the championship title. By defeating Jay Hwang of San Diego in the finals, 4 and 3, Spieth became the eighth medalist in the event's 62-year history to win and first since Matthew Rosenfeld in 2000. This victory catapulted him into the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings - a position he has not relinquished since.
By season's end, Spieth notched 11 rounds in the 60s and eight top-10 finishes, which separated him as junior golf's top boy in 2009.
About Victoria Tanco's 2009 Season
Since moving to America from Buenos Aires, Argentina, two years ago, Tanco has amassed six wins and 14 top-10 finishes in 19 tournaments. This record includes nine top 10s and three victories during the 2009 season, which helped her defend her Rolex Junior Player of the Year crown.
Tanco started 2009 where she left off, as she posted two victories before the summer season began. At the Orange Bowl International Junior, Tanco posted a 4-under-par 276 total and outlasted Alexis Thompson in a five-hole playoff for the tournament title. In April, she carded an even-par 210 total at the Mizuno Junior at Innisbrook and notched her third career AJGA victory.
Her third win of the season was her crowning achievement, as she led wire-to-wire at the prestigious Rolex Tournament of Champions at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Her 13-under-par total was nine shots clear of the field and broke the tournament scoring record by seven shots. It was her third victory in 11 career AJGA Invitationals.
Since this victory, she played for the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur, advanced to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Girls' Junior and finished second at the season-ending PING Invitational. Tanco continues to be a dominant force in American junior golf, and, at the age of 15, she still has three years remaining in her junior golf career.
About Rolex and the AJGA
This Rolex Junior Player of the Year Award would not be possible without the support of Rolex, the AJGA's Premier Partner and supporter of the Association since 1983.
Along with the sponsorship of the Rolex Junior Players of the Year, Rolex Junior All-America Teams and Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet, the distinguished timepiece manufacturer also continues to support two of the AJGA's most competitive major championships: Rolex Tournament of Champions and Rolex Girls Junior Championship.
Rolex is also the Founding Corporate Partner of the Achieving Competitive Excellence Grant. The ACE Grant is designed to give top-flight junior golfers the ability to play a national junior golf schedule regardless of their financial resources. In 2008, with the help of Rolex and various individual donors, 78 junior golfers were able to compete in events they otherwise could not afford.
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 largest Association of its kind, the AJGA has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of more than 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and more than 30 foreign countries.
Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA's second Premier Partner.
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, please contact Chris Richards (crichards@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department at (678) 425-1789, or visit the AJGA's Web site at ajga.org.
