Wyatt Wins HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods
Redemption earned after missing last year's playoff by one stroke
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — This was a much happier walk up the 18th fairway for Bobby Wyatt. One year after bogeying the final hole to miss a playoff by a stroke, Wyatt, of Mobile, Ala., found his redemption, claiming a two-shot victory at the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods.
Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods was a 54-hole stroke play competition played on the par-72, 7,074-yard Fazio Championship Course at The Club at Carlton Woods. The 78-player field featured players from 20 states and four foreign countries, and included 30 Rolex Junior All-Americans.
Wyatt topped the leaderboard at the end of each day and never lost his lead during the final round as he posted a 5-under-par 211 tournament total. Despite winds gusting to 20 mph, Jordan Spieth of Dallas kept it close in the final round, coming within a shot but never evening the score.
The 444-yard, par-4 18th hole was the most difficult of the week, creating potential for drama, but Wyatt safely reached the green in two, and two-putted for par and a victory. After the near-miss of 2009, the victory was sweet.
“It really came down to the wire and it was a lot of fun,” Wyatt said. “It's a great feeling because I didn't finish well here at all last year, and it's nice to finally seal the deal.”
The tournament was the final AJGA event for Wyatt, a first-team Rolex Junior All-American who plans to move up to the amateur level before entering the University of Alabama in the fall.
Spieth, the reigning Rolex Junior Player of the Year, finished runner-up for the second straight year after losing in a playoff in 2009. When Spieth made birdie on the seventh hole, he cut Wyatt's lead to one stroke, but Wyatt countered with a birdie at the eighth to reclaim a two-stroke lead. It was the closest Spieth or anyone else would get.
Along with Wyatt, Spieth, at 3-under-par 213, and Anthony Paolucci of Del Mar, Calif., at 1-under-par 215, were the only players to finish the tournament under par.
Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos, Calif., finished fourth at even-par 216, while Oliver Schniederjans of Powder Springs, Ga., and Cory Whitsett of Houston tied for fifth at 1-over-par 217.
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.
For more information about the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, please contact AJGA National Headquarters at (770) 868-4200.
