Weekend wrap-up (May 12)

Weekend wrap-up (May 12)

 

 

AJGA alumni had a strong showing at THE PLAYERS Championship . Five players in the top 10 played in AJGA tournaments during their junior golf careers. Jim Furyk finished in second place, Sergio Garcia finished in third place, Jordan Spieth tied for fourth and Jimmy Walker and David Hearn tied for sixth. Morgan Hoffmann, the first winner of The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf, notched a top-20 finish.

 

 

Furyk played in AJGA events from 1986-88. He put together nine top-10 finishes including a victory at the 1987 Ben Hogan Boys Junior Championship. The 1987 first-team Rolex Junior All-American went on to play college golf at the University of Arizona. At Arizona he was an All-American twice and led the Wildcats to an NCAA title in 1992.

 

 

Spieth, the 2009 Rolex Junior Player of the Year, played in The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf as an AJGA junior where he finished tied for second in 2010. He collected five AJGA victories including wins at both the 2008 and 2010 PING Invitational. He closed his AJGA career with a win at the 2011 CB&I Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, the same year he won his second U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, having previously won in 2009. He became only the second player to earn two titles at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship behind Tiger Woods (1991-93).

 

Spieth played his college career at the University of Texas where he helped the Longhorns win the 2012 NCAA Men’s Division I Golf National Championship, before turning professional in December 2012.

 

 

Garcia earned several prestigious achievements during his junior career. In 1995, he became the youngest player to win the European Amateur. He went on to win the British Boys Amateur Championship (1997) and the British Amateur Championship (1998). Garcia played in two AJGA events and was named honorable mention Rolex Junior All-American in 1998 after winning the Marsh Junior at Apawamis.

 

 

Hoffmann played in AJGA events from 2004-08. He amassed 13 top-10 finishes including four wins. Three of his four victories came at Invitational events. Hoffmann was a first-team Rolex Junior All-American in 2007 and went on to play college golf at Oklahoma State.

 

Seventy-eight of the 144 players in the field at THE PLAYERS Championship are AJGA Alumni. Of those 78, 46 were named Rolex Junior All-Americans during their AJGA careers, including six who were named Rolex Player of the Year.