Sydneysider Jeffrey Guan blew away the field to win the inaugural Uniqlo/Adam Scott Junior Championship by eight shots at River Ridge Golf Club in California today.
In front of Scott himself, 17-year-old Guan produced a bogey free four-under par final round of 68 to finish well clear of his rivals in his first American Junior Golf Association event.
Guan, who calls The Australian Golf Club home, began the day with a three shot lead following scores of 69 and 67 in the first two rounds of the 54-hole event, and it was clear that he would not be caught after he made early birdies at the third and fourth to create a sizable buffer.
His latest victory adds to an extremely impressive junior resume in Australia that has caught the eye of many keen golf followers.
Guan is the reigning Australian Boys’ Amateur champion and the two-time reigning NSW Junior champion, and word began to spread of his prodigious talent when he won the Bexley club championship as a 12-year-old before becoming club champion at The Australian at 14.
The 2013 Masters champion – who announced the leading groups off the first tee and stuck around for the day to spend time with the players – has become the latest big name in Australian golf to be impressed by what he saw and he greeted Guan at the back of the 18th green with some words of praise and congratulations.
Scott also showed his class when he spoke to another Australian, Justice Bosio, following her runner-up finish.
An Australian double looked likely early in the day but Bosio dropped six shots in the closing six holes to finish two shots behind winner Frances Kim and Scott shared some words of encouragement as it is an experience he has had over his career.
The two Queenslanders developed a good rapport when Scott made a blunder during his announcing duties.
At the first tee Scott said that Bosio was from “Car-ba-tour” rather than Caboolture and he said to her that he will have to go there. She quipped back “me too”.
In addition to meeting Scott, the two Australian representatives for the tournament – who were selected by Golf Australia – were coached and mentored for the week by multi-award winning PGA Coach of the Year Richard Woodhouse and Symetra Tour player Stephanie Na.
