State Mines Country Club’s Casey Jarvis came back from an opening round of 81 to finish in the top 70 at the AJGA Junior Players Championships at the TPC Sawgrass in Florida, USA.
Jarvis shot 78 and 73 in the following rounds as the tournament was squashed into two days to avoid threats of Hurricane Dorian.
The tournament was won by fellow Ekurhuleni golfer Jayden Schaper.
“It really feels amazing on my third go, to finally get the win,” said Schaper after he holed a clutch six-foot putt at the final hole to cement a one-shot victory on six-under-par 210.
The field teed off the first round in driving rain that swept across the Stadium Course in the morning, but 18-year-old Schaper wasted no time in living up to his billing. He broke into the top four with an opening three-under-par 69 and, in the afternoon, the Ebotse golfer braved the elements to card a 70 that earned him a share in the lead with American Brett Robert on four-under.
“In a lot of our tournaments back home, we play 36 holes on the first day and 18 on the last, so the change in format didn’t really faze me,” he said. “It’s one of my most favourite courses and it was such a big goal of mine. It hasn’t really sunk in, but I’m just over the moon to call myself a Junior Players champion.”
Read: Joint second for Jarvis in PE stroke play
Exhibiting the same cool and composed demeanour that saw him triumph under great pressure in the South African Stroke Play Championship earlier this year, Schaper was the picture of calm on the final day. He got off to a birdie start at the par-four first and parred the next four holes before a birdie at the par-four sixth took him clear of the chasing pack on six-under.
At the tender age of 16, Schaper became the first junior in the golfing history of South Africa to achieve the ‘grand slam’ of Nomads SA Boys titles, winning the u-13, u-15 and u-17 tournaments and the elusive double at the Nomads SA Boys u-19 Championship, and anyone following his career would not be surprised by his breakthrough in the United States.
Schaper’s victory at TPC Sawgrass also came with two major pay-offs.
Not only has he comfortably made the International Team for the 2019 Junior Presidents Cup, but the junior has earned himself an invitation to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, courtesy of businessman and GolfRSA patron Johann Rupert.
Jarvis was 13th in the International Team standings before Wednesday when the World Amateur Golf Rankings were updated to see if he will join Schaper (3) and other South Africans for the matches against the United States at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in December.
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