At the 74th Annual Monterey City Championship at Del Monte Golf Course in Monterey, California, the tournament came down to the wire.
Kurtis Rodriguez, a native of Red Bluff, California, and a rising senior at California Baptist University, entered the final round trailing by two strokes. Sitting at 4-under after rounds of 72 and 68, Rodriguez needed a low round on Sunday to have a chance at victory.
He delivered.
Starting steadily with three pars on his first three holes, Rodriguez kickstarted his round with a birdie on the par-3 4th hole and finished his front nine with a birdie on the par-5 9th, making the turn just two strokes off the lead.
A birdie on the par-4 10th hole and an eagle on the par-4 11th brought Rodriguez level with George McNeely of Carmel, California at 9-under-par for the tournament. McNeely, a former North Carolina Tarheel, responded with an eagle on the par-5 13th hole. Rodriguez matched McNeely with a birdie and remained one shot back with five holes to play.
The pair exchanged pars on holes 14, 15, and 16. Then, Rodriguez delivered a decisive blow with an eagle on the par-5 17th hole. McNeely made par, turning his one-shot lead into a one-shot deficit. On the 18th hole, McNeely bogeyed while Rodriguez closed with a par, finishing with a bogey-free 64 (-8) and securing a two-shot victory.
Rodriguez made 10 birdies and 2 eagles over 54 holes while recording the fewest bogeys (4).
Bobby Barajas of Shell Beach, California, entered the final round tied for the lead and posted a final round 70 (-2) to finish in solo third. Jay Gould-Healy, an Irishman and rising junior at the University of Oregon, finished solo fourth at 7-under, five strokes off the lead. Gould-Healy made a 9 on the first hole of the tournament, a par-5, but recovered with 6 birdies and an eagle to shoot a first-round 69 (-3). A.J. Fitzgerald, a Salinas, California native and the 2023 Monterey City Champion, shared the lead heading into the final round but shot 73 (+1) to round out the top five.