Zander Grant, a University of Denver sophomore, carded rounds of 69-67-70 to finish 10-under and win the 2024 Thunderbolt Invitational at Sterling Grove Golf & Country Club in Surprise, Ariz.
Grant was three shots back after the first round, but his second round 5-under 67 saw him propel him to the top of the leaderboard. He recorded five birdies and no bogeys in his second round, and he recorded 14 birdies, an eagle, and six bogeys in the championship.
In the final round, Grant bogeyed holes No. 13 and 15 to fall back to 9-under, but a birdie on No. 16 got him back to 10-under to hold off Seth Bearden of Midwestern State University.
Bearden finished in solo second place at 9-under after birdies on holes No. 15 and 18 to put pressure on Grant but couldn't get to 10-under and force a playoff.
Aidan Thomas of New Mexico State and Ryan Abuan of San Diego finished T3 at 8-under. Cole Rueck of Boise State finished in solo fifth place at 7-under.
As a freshman at Denver, Grant appeared in six events and 17 total rounds. He posted a 74.6 scoring average and recorded two top-20 finishes.
Because of the huge success of the Patriot All-America Invitational, which was started in 2011, the organizers decided to implement a second tournament to the Patriot lineup named The Thunderbolt.
The Thunderbolt has been added to accommodate those players who met the initial eligibility but did not make it into the Patriot.
