REUNION, Fla. - Labor Day Weekend saw overcast skies, pockets of rain, and plenty of birdies as 84 FJT players took on the Nicklaus Course at Reunion Resort. After 54 holes, Alexandra Phung and Eddie Gu stood above the rest as each added to their already stellar FJT and junior golf resumes.
Boys (16-18)
On Saturday, no one got off to a hotter start than Andrew Tsar. The Palm Beach Gardens native made eight birdies in the opening round on his way to a 5-under 67. Tsar wasn't the only player to post red numbers to kick off the weekend, as five players finished under par. Conor Whalen and Maurice Hoben would round out the final group on moving day as the duo shot 69 and 70, respectively.
Moving day certainly lived up to it name, as some new faces found themselves climbing up the leaderboard. The biggest of which would be Ponte Vedra's Jake Mason. The incoming Junior at Ponte Vedra High School made six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 15th to card a 6-under 66 and move up 25 spots on the leaderboard. Mason would go into the final round only trailing one player, Juan Jose Saavedra. Aided by a string of four straight birdies on holes 11 through 14, Saavedra's 67 vaulted him up to the solo lead. Maurice Hoben would continue to play steady, with a 1-under 71 and a share of second place with Jake Mason and Nicklaus Downing.
Saavedra and Mason would get off to steady starts, with Mason starting the charge with a birdie on the par-5 3rd to pull into a share of the lead. After an opening double bogey, Downing would make an eagle on the same hole to pull within just one shot and with a birdie on the 4th, a share of the lead. After a birdie on the 5th hole, Saavedra found trouble with a double-bogey on the 6th hole while Mason added another birdie. Meanwhile in the group ahead, quietely making a charge was Eddie Gu who turned in 2-under 34 to get within one.
The leaders, Mason and Downing, would fall back to Gu with bogeys on the par-4 13th hole. Eddie Gu would continue to just play steady golf as he made pars on his final five holes to get into the clubhouse at 4-under for the weekend and a final round 2-under, 70. As Gu watched from behind the 18th green, Mason would need to get up and down from short of the green in order to force a playoff. As Mason's 5-foot downhill putt slide by, Eddie Gu would capture yet another FJT victory. Jake Mason and Nicklaus Downing would each take home a share of second place as the duo would cap off their week at 3-under par thanks to rounds of even-par in the final round.
Girls (16-18)
After a summer that included making match play at the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, Alexandra Phung brought her great form to Reunion. The 2029 graduate and third-youngest player in the field birdied her opening hole and never looked back. An opening round 3-under 69 would lead the Girls Division by two shots over Angelina Pacheco who also broke par on Saturday. The most recent FJT Major Champion, Abby Vernier, would round out the final group for Sunday.
Sunday saw the competition turn into a two person race between Alexandra Phung and Angelina Pacheco. Pacheco would get off to a hot start with birdies on the first two holes of the day to take a share of the lead. Undeterred, Phung would make three birdies on her opening nine holes on her way to an even par round of 72. Angelina Pacheco would keep pace with Phung posting her own even-par 72 to stay two shots behind. Elizabeth Palmer would round out the final group after a moving day 1-under 71 to share third place with Elena Zreik.
With the winds picking up during the final round, the pair of Phung and Pacheco would each struggle early. Phung opened with a bogey on the par-4 10th and a double bogey on the 12th while Pacheco bogeyed three of the first four, however aided by a birdie in the middle of that run. With the lead slipping to just one shot, Phung would make back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th but hand those right back with a double on the par-5 18th. As the two made the turn to the back nine, the lead would still be just two shots for Phung.
Pacheco would lose pace with a bogey on the par-5 3rd and just as that was happening Alexandra Phung decided to take the tournament into her own hands. The Team Florida member would birdie the 5th, 6th, and 8th holes to leave no doubt. A back-nine 3-under 33 would see her card a second consecutive even-par 72 and a four shot victory. Angelina Pacheco would claim second place at 1-over par for the weekend while Keira Shavitranuruk, at just 13 years old, would post a 1-under 71 for the second straight day to move into third place.
