U.S. Four-Ball champion Tyler Mawhinney, Charlie Woods, defending champion Hamilton Coleman also entered for First Coast’s Labor Day weekend classic
The Junior Players Championship went to sudden death at TPC Sawgrass
The 18th Junior Players Championship ended in the second playoff in the 18-year history of the tournament, with Hamilton Coleman beating Blades Brown.
- The 2024 Junior Players Championship field features highly ranked junior golfers, including world No. 1 Miles Russell.
- Past Junior Players tournaments have showcased future major champions like Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler.
- Notable participants include Charlie Woods, son of Tiger Woods, and Cameron Kuchar, son of Matt Kuchar.
It’s difficult for Junior Players Championship tournament director Jim McCarthy to assess the strength of a field in any given year. After all, that’s a judgment call that really can’t be made until years in the future.
Exhibit A: The 2010 Junior Players, won by Michael Johnson, who has yet to rise above Korn Ferry Tour status as a professional. But the rest of the field that year included major champions Jordan Spieth and Wyndham Clark and PGA Tour winners Emiliano Grillo, Grayson Murray, Daniel Berger, Adam Svensson, Michael Kim, Taylor Moore, Nico Echavarria and Will Zalatoris.
Exhibit B: Robby Shelton IV was the winner in 2011 and he’s still looking for his first PGA Tour victory, with eight top 10 finishes in 136 starts. Behind him that year were world No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler, winner of 18 PGA Tour titles and four major championships, along with past U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tour winners Moore, Echavarria, Murray, Thomas Detry and Jake Knapp.
But McCarthy is also hard-pressed to remember a year when he’s been this excited about the overall talent in the field of 78 that will tackle the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass beginning on Aug. 29 in the 19th edition of the American Junior Golf Association.
“It looks like this is one of our best fields, but only time will tell,” he said. “We kind of knew Jordan Spieth was going to be special in 2010, but we didn’t know what we had in the rest of that field, and look how it turned out. Then you take the next year with Scottie Scheffler and Matthew Fitzpatrick. But it’s fair to say we’ve got a great field in terms of what they’ve accomplished in junior golf.
Who leads the Junior Players field?
Start with Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, the No. 1 player on the AJGA Rolex Rankings and the No. 1 junior player in the world, fresh off quarterfinal appearances in both the U.S. Junior and the U.S. Amateur. Russell won the 2023 Junior Players, the first for a player from the First Coast.
The tournament also has six of the top 10 players on the AJGA rankings, defending champion and No. 2 Hamilton Coleman of Augusta, Ga., No. 3 Giuseppe Puebla of Royal Palm Beach, No. 6 Jessy Huebner of Port St. Lucie, No. 7 Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island and No. 8 Lunden Esterline of Andover, Kan.
Mawhinney and future Vanderbilt teammate Will Hartman won the U.S. Four-Ball in May. Huebner won the 2024 Florida Junior Boys and Esterline ran away with the Junior PGA, with Mawhinney and Puebla tying for second. Mawhinney also made the cut earlier this summer in his first PGA Tour start at the RBC Canadian Open.
Charlie Woods also playing
Then there are the two legacy players in the field: No. 13 Charlie Woods of Jupiter and No. 18 Cameron Kuchar of St. Simons Island, Ga. Their fathers won The Players Championship: Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2013 and Matt Kuchar in 2010.
Seven players in the field made the round of 16 in the U.S. Junior, 10 finished among the top 10, plus ties, in the Junior PGA and five made the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team, of the six male members.
The Junior Players field also includes contestants from 14 countries and 18 states. Florida has the most players with 13, followed by California and Texas with 10 each. There are four players from England and three from France.
What other Players winners’ sons have competed in Junior Players?
Tyler McCumber tied for 31st in the 2009 Junior Players. His father, Mark McCumber, won The Players in 1988.
Dru Love tied for 73rd in the 2010 Junior Players. His father, Davis Love III, won The Players in 1992 and 2003.
What to know about the Junior Players
- The tournament will be Aug. 29-31. The format is 54 holes of stroke play, with tee times ranging from 8:10-10:10 a.m. each day, off Nos. 1 and 10 at the Stadium Course.
- Hamilton Coleman of Augusta, Ga., is the defending champion. He defeated Blades Brown on the second hole of sudden death.
- Admission and parking are free. Tournament officials request that fans park near the Players Championship Media Center or adjacent lots.
- The course will not be roped off, but fans following groups of players are required to stay on cart paths whenever possible, or stay well back from teeing grounds, fairways and greens.
- There will be no on-course concessions, so fans are advised to bring their own water. Water fountains are at on-course restrooms.
Who are the First Coast players in the field?
- Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, the No. 1-ranked player in the AJGA and the 2023 Junior Players champion.
- Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island, ranked seventh in the AJGA.
- Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach, ranked 29th in the AJGA.
- Lucas Gimenez of Jacksonville, ranked 46th in the AJGA.
- Ambrose Kinnare of St. Augustine.
Junior Players tournament records
- 54-hole score: 16-under 200, Jeffrey Guan (2022).
- First 36 hole score: 10-under 134, Cole Hammer (2016).
- 18-hole score: 9-under 63 (round 2), Logan McAllister (2017)
- Low opening 18-hole score: 6-under 66, Bobby Wyatt (2009)
- Low 9-hole score: 6-under 30 (back nine), Rylan Shim (2022)
- Largest victory margin: Four shots, Jeffrey Guan (2022), Ben James (2021).
- Biggest final-round comeback to win: Seven shots, David Ford (2020).
- Most top-10 finishes: Five, Karl Vilips.
- Holes-in-one: Taylor Travis, No. 3 (2007); Bryan Lee, No. 17 (2020). 10-under 134, Cole Hammer (2016).
- 18-hole score: 9-under 63 (round 2), Logan McAllister (2017)
- Low opening 18-hole score: 6-under 66, Bobby Wyatt (2009)
- Low 9-hole score: 6-under 30 (back nine), Rylan Shim (2022)
- Largest victory margin: Four shots, Jeffrey Guan (2022), Ben James (2021).
- Biggest final-round comeback to win: Seven shots, David Ford (2020).
- Most top-10 finishes: Five, Karl Vilips.
- Holes-in-one: Taylor Travis, No. 3 (2007); Bryan Lee, No. 17 (2020).
Read the full article here