Defending Champion Morikawa Leads AGC Silicon Valley Am
Collin Morikawa
(Cal Bears Photo)
MORGAN HILL, Calif. (January 14, 2016) -- Defending champion Collin Morikawa picked up right where he left off last year, firing a 6-under 66 in the opening round of the AmateurGolf.com Silicon Valley Amateur presented by Callaway Golf.
Morikawa, a sophomore at Cal, shot 1-under on the front-nine before a stretch of two eagles in three holes on the back-nine. The first eagle came on the par-5 14th followed by a pitching wedge hole-out from 143 on the par-4 16th. A birdie on 18 gave Morikawa a closing 30.
Trailing by one is another Cal Bear, red-shirt freshman William Aldred who posted a 5-under 67. The Englishman rode a hot putter on his back-nine, dropping 20 and 30 footers in what his playing partner Sean Yu called an "unconscious" effort.
World Amateur No.1 Maverick McNealy sits alone in third after a 4-under 68 which included an astounding nine birdies. His playing partner and teammate Brandon Wu is close behind after a bogey-free 69 which puts him a tie for 4th with Saint Mary's freshman Blake Hathcoat and Daulet Tuleubayev.
SENIOR DIVISION
Tony Ralph leads the Senior Division by four shots after an opening-round 76 that could have been a lot better had it not been for an unfortunate nine on the par-5 14th. Sung Han and Jeff Britton are the closet pursuers after each shooting an 8-over 80.
WOMEN'S DIVISION
Fresno State commit Marie Dean leads the women's division by one shot over San Jose State's Alexandra Cooper after a 3-over 75. San Diego State's Daniela Anastasi (80) and Fresno State's Kelsi Stieler (81) round out the division.
NET DIVISION
Scott Carelli leads the Net division after a 3-over 75 put him eight shots ahead of Mike Sly.
Play will begin at 8:00 am tomorrow as the field switches to the difficult Coyote Creek Tournament Course.
ABOUT THE AGC Silicon Valley Amateur
PAIRINGS |
RESULTS
The Silicon Valley Amateur is the first
AmateurGolf.com
tournament to have, on its past winner's list, a
MAJOR
champion. That would be Collin Morikawa, who won
the
2016 title. Just over 4 years later, he won the PGA
Championship just up the road at TPC Harding Park
in San Francisco.
Rising PGA Tour star Max Homa also won the Silicon
Valley Amateur
in 2011.
Related: The road to PGA stardom for Homa
and Morikawa went through the Silicon Valley
Amateur
2021 marked the announcement of Baylands Golf
Links as the tournament's new host venue. And wow,
did players enjoy it. It's
location in Palo Alto is fitting -- as the original garage
where Hewlett Packard was founded is located there,
and today's biggest tech companies dot the area
map
like the Canadian Geese on the fairways and
wetlands
near Baylands in the winter. Like
Corica Park in Alameda, Baylands was recently
completely redesigned as a new course from the dirt
up, under the hand of architect Forrest Richardson,
and
the results are stunning.
This is a gross competition with Championship,
Senior
and Women's divisions. There will be no Net division.
MID-AM DIVISION
For players age
25-
49. Compete alongside the younger players in the
Championship Division, (same tees, same prize
opportunities) and if there are at least 10 Mid-Ams, a
separate prize and trophy will be awarded.
SUPER SENIORS
For players age
65+. Compete alongside the younger players in the
Senior Division, (same tees, same prize
opportunities) and a
separate prize and trophy will be awarded for low
super senior.
View Complete Tournament Information