OCALA, Fla. - Parker Severs and Amelie Phung both shot the low rounds of the weekend in their respective division, 69. Both Severs and Phung won their respective divisions as well. Battling brisk temperatures in the low forties all weekends, the pair each claimed their first career Florida Junior Tour victory.
Boys (13-15)
Severs, of Lakewood Ranch, entered the final round trailing by a shot. As did three others. Severs vaulted himself to the top of the leaderboard with a 3-under par 69, posting 6 birdies after doubling the first hole of the day. His efforts today were enough to secure him a 2-shot victory over Jiacheng Xu, a Winter Garden resident.
Xu shot 73-71 to finish even-par for the tournament and in second-place. In third were Dax Greenwood and Lorenzo Rodriguez, of Naples and Miami, respectively. The two shot a pair of 2-over pars for a share of bronze.
Girls (13-15)
Phung, a Forest Hills, NY native, got out to a strong start on Saturday with an opening round 69 (-3). Behind her were Sofia Cherif Essakali, Remi Bacardi, and Honorine Nobuta Ferry, who posted rounds of even-par on Saturday to head into the final round three shots back. Cherif Essakali, in the second-to-last group of the day, posted a 2-under par 70 to be the leader in the clubhouse at -2. Phung, needing a birdie on her last hole to force a playoff, did exactly that, carding a birdie three on hole 9.
Phung and Cherif Essakali then went to a playoff, where both displayed tremendous skill over a variety of shots. After trading pars for the first four holes, Phung defeated Cherif Essakali on the fifth playoff hole with yet another par. The two set a Florida Junior Tour record for the longest ever playoff in the Girls (13-15) division.
Bacardi, a Miami resident, shot a 1-over par 73 on Sunday to take third-place.
