Woodson, who last won the State Open in 2016 at Ballyhack, forced himself into the conversation with an incredible round on Sunday. Starting in the fourth-to-last group, Woodson tied the Independence competitive course record with a 9-under 62 that included eight birdies, an eagle and a bogey. He got up and down for par on 18 to get to the clubhouse at 12-under (68-71-62) and waited.

A similar scenario unfolded during his last victory in 2016 at Ballyhack, when he went out early and posted a 65 then waited patiently as Lawrence and Lanto Griffin struggled down the stretch, allowing him to join a playoff, which he won on the second hole.

"Did I think I had it in me? Sure, I thought I had it in me," Woodson said. "Did I think it was going to happen? Definitely not. You just keep thinking and believing and you just kind of talk yourself into it, that it's a possibility. Then you have to do this. I've done this a couple of times before, where I get hot on Sunday and just try to put some pressure on the lead. Today, we got it going and rode the wave as long as we could."

Both Reilly and Woodson bogeyed the par-3 14th for their only blemishes of the day. Woodson recovered with a key birdie on 15. Reilly made his on 16 and nearly had another on 17 to get to 13-under. But he said he misread a 6-footer and it slid left, leaving him to incredulously say, "no way!"

Reilly's worst swing of the tournament came on 18 on Saturday, a wayward drive that ended deep in a penalty area, leaving him to scramble and eventually make double bogey. He said he'd wiped that swing from his memory by the time he stepped to 18 tee on Sunday, and he striped his drive right down the middle.

His approach wandered left of the hole, leaving him a long lag to ensure at worst par to force a playoff. He nearly sank the long birdie putt but tapped in for par. A key thing happened on that hole, though. One of his playing partners, Brandon Berry, had about a 30-foot putt from above the hole that he barely missed, which Reilly studied, not knowing he would have almost the exact same putt on the playoff hole.

When Reilly stepped up to his putt in the playoff, he remembered Berry's read and took a similar line to the hole.

Reilly also became the first junior golfer to win the State Open in the merged era (1985-present). Next up, Reilly has two more chances to showcase his game on the national stage, as he'll compete in next week's Junior PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club in Maryland, and then head to Hazeltine in Minnesota in August to compete in the U.S. Amateur.