Jones Cup Junior: Tyler Watts makes late charge to win the title
December 19, 2023 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com
see also: Tyler Watts, View results for Jones Cup Junior, Sea Island Golf Club
Watts birdied Nos. 14 and 15 to go ahead by one shot. See how he finished.
Tyler Watts of Huntsville, Ala., finished 3-under to win the 2023 Jones Cup Junior Invitational at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga. Watts shot a final round 2-under 68.
Watts was the lone golfer to record both rounds under par, shooting rounds of 69-68 to finish 3-under. Carson Bertagnole of Pinehurst, N.C., finished one shot behind Watts at 2-under, recording rounds of 68-70.
Watts recorded a first-round 1-under 69 to sit two shots back of Nolan Harper of Saint Petersburg, Fla., after starting off slow. Watts was 4-over through his first four holes with a double-bogey on No. 4. He then played the next 14 holes at 5-under, shooting a 31 on the back nine with birdies on Nos. 13, 15, 17, and 18.
Watts started his final round 1-over through six holes and then made four birdies from Holes No. 7 to 17. He bogeyed No. 18 but was three shots ahead of Bertagnole, who birdied No. 18 to finish one shot behind Watts.
Jackson Herrington of Dickson, Tenn., and John Daniel Culbreth of Thomasville, Ga., finished T3 at 1-under, and Michael Riebe of Encinitas, Calif., finished in solo fifth place at even-par.
First-round leader Nolan Harper finished T6 at 1-over after a final round 4-over 74.
This win caps off a stellar 2023, winning the Alabama State Amateur and making the Round of 32 at the U.S. Junior.
Watts joins a stellar group of past winners of the Jones Cup Junior, adding his name with Maxwell Ford, William Moll, Matthew Nesmith, KK Limbhasut, and Drew Miller.
The Jones Cup Junior is normally a three-day, 54-hole event, but due to bad weather on the first day, it became a two-day, 36-hole event.
About the Jones Cup Junior
The Jones Cup Junior Invitational follows in the footsteps of the Jones Cup Invitational. The tournament features the nation’s top male junior golfers ages 15-18. The winner of the 54-hole stroke play competition receives an exemption to participate ...
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