Wyatt Makes Statement, Leads HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods
Nine players post red numbers on Fazio Championship Course
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Bobby Wyatt of Mobile, Ala., came out strong in the first round of the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, firing a 7-under-par 65. The University Alabama-bound senior holds the lead over the 2009 Rolex Junior Player of the Year Jordan Spieth of Dallas, and Jeffrey Kang of Fullerton, Calif., who both came into the tent at 4-under-par.
Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods is a 54-hole stroke play competition played on the par-72, 6,965-yard Fazio Championship Course at The Club at Carlton Woods. The 78-player field features players from 20 states and four foreign countries, and includes 30 Rolex Junior All-Americans.
After a bogey on No. 1, Wyatt rebounded with six birdies on the front side, including a run on Nos. 6-9, putting him at 5-under-par at the turn. He birdied two more on the back side, putting him three strokes ahead of last year's first-round leader pace.
“I just had a bad tee shot on No. 1 where I didn't save par,” Wyatt said. “I found a rhythm after that and started to play aggressive with my iron shots.”
Wyatt finished third in this event last year and is looking to take home his second AJGA Invitational victory.
Spieth sits three shots back in a tie with Kang at 4-under-par 68. Spieth, the runner-up at the 2009 HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, fired five birdies on the day. Motin Yeung of Orlando, Fla., and Ian McConnell of Riverview, Fla., sit in fourth at 2-under-par 70. Oliver Schniederjans of Powder Springs, Ga., Cory Whitsett of Houston, Daniel Stringfellow of Roselle, Ill., and Preston Valder of Yorba Linda, Calif., are all tied for sixth at 1-under-par 71 going into the second round.
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. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. 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.
Second-round tee times will run from 8-9:48 a.m. off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. For more information about the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, please contact Tournament Headquarters at (281) 863-5731.
