Saturday was the conclusion of the 84th Sunnehanna Amateur, and never in the event’s history has there been a younger winner than Tyler Watts.
The 17-year-old punctuated the biggest win of his career with a closing 6-under 64 to win by four shots at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, about an hour and a half from the site of this week’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. Watts fired consecutive 64s in the third and final round, and the 2026 Tennessee commit beat Boise State’s Cole Rueck by four shots to win the first event of the Elite Amateur Golf Series.
Watts, who’s ranked sixth in the AJGA rankings, carded five straight birdies on Nos. 4-8 to turn in 30 during the final round. He added a pair of birdies on the back nine, and one lone blemish on the card didn’t change the result. His 19-under 261 mark is the lowest 72-hole score in the history of the Sunnehanna Amateur.
“This is my first year here, and it’s an honor to be able to walk away with the trophy,” Watts told Ben Adelberg with The Back of the Range. “I just know after this week that there’s a lot of history behind this tournament, and it’s a true honor to win.”
Earlier this year, Watts finished T-6 in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and then T-5 at the Team TaylorMade Invitational earlier this month. Last year, he made the final of the U.S. Junior Amateur, falling 4 and 3 to soon-to-be Florida freshman Trevor Gutschewski, who played in the U.S. Open this week thanks to his win.
The Sunnehanna Amateur is the first of seven events in the Elite Amateur Golf Series, which features the top amateur events of the summer, concluding at the Western Amateur. Past Sunnehanna champions include Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Lucas Glover and more.
The next event in the Elite Amateur Golf Series is the Northeast Amateur, which begins Wednesday, June 18 at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rhode Island.
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