The top junior players in the state battled at TPC Sawgrass for the third FJT Tour Championship this weekend, December 13-14. Round one was played on the challenging Dye's Valley Course, home of the Web.com Tour Finals, followed by round two on The PLAYERS Stadium Course, home each May to the PGA Tour's PLAYERS Championship and famous Par 3 Island Green 17th! Both courses were in excellent condition, despite the two hour frost delay each morning, making for close competition in every division.
In the boys 16-18 division Andrew Kozan, of Palm Beach, fired two rounds of 72 to capture his second Tour Championship win in a row. After round one, Samuel 
Uhland, of Jacksonville, took the lead with a two under-par score of 70. Following close behind Uhland was Sachin Kumar, Kyle Flexsenhar, and Kevin Slayden Jr. tied for second place with a one under-par score of 71. Kozan sat tied for fifth place after round one with an even par score. Sunday Morning’s final pairing of Uhland, Flexsenhar, and Slayden, would see all three players move backwards down the leaderboard. In one group ahead of the final group, Sachin Kumar, of Port Saint Lucie, battled closely with Kozan for first place honors. Kozan started his second round on fire with an eagle on the second hole followed by a birdie on number four. Kumar birdied hole 17 to pull even with Kozan, but a costly tee shot on 18 caused Kumar to fall behind with a bogey. Kozan hit the green in regulation on hole 18 leading to a par and one stroke victory. Kyle Flexsenhar and Gabriel Lench tied for third with a 147 tournament total.
In the girls 16-18 division Dree Fausnaugh, of Orlando, held onto the lead after round one to win by five strokes. Fausnaugh finished round one in first place with a one over-par score of 73, two strokes ahead of Emily Uhland, of Jacksonville, and Mary Janiga, of Wellington, tied for second place. On Sunday, Lauren Waidner came from behind to claim second place with a birdie on hole 16 and a second round score of two over-par. Fausnaugh never fell from the lead during round two with three birdies to finish with a second round score of 73 and tournament total 146. Uhland fell to a third place finish followed by Terese Romeo in fourth place.
In the boys’ 13-15 division Brandon Mancheno, of Jacksonville, and Wocheng Ye, of Lake Mary, were tied for the lead after round one, each firing two-under par 70. Manuel Girona, of Windemere, sat in second place with a one under-par round of 71. Ye faltered on Sunday with a score of 76 to finish in fourth place. Despite a slow start to the round, Mancheno managed to chip-in for birdie on number 18 to shoot a 73. Manuel Girona followed the leader closely throughout round two and 
birdied his last hole to tie Mancheno and force a playoff. The playoff went to the 16th hole where it was quickly ended by Mancheno’s birdie defeating Girona’s par.
Brittany Shin, of Cape Coral, held the lead after round one but fell to second place after round two on the difficult PLAYERS Stadium Course. Lauren Miller, of Niceville, posted a first round score of 74 to finish Saturday in second place, one stroke behind Shin. Miller finished Sunday’s round with birdies on holes 14 and 17 to score a 78. With a tournament total 152, Miller won the girls’ 13-15 division by one stroke.
This event concludes the 2014 Florida Junior Tour Season. We want to thank everyone for another great year, and can't wait to see everyone out in the new year. 2015 will kick off at The Conservatory at Hammock Beach on January 10-11.
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