JOHNSON -- The highest rated boys player in the American Junior Golf Association rankings lived up to the hype Thursday at the KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational, while the hottest new player on the AJGA circuit continued her recent dominance in the girls division as players wrapped up tournament play at the Blessings Golf Club.
Karl Vilips, 14, from Wesley Chapel, Fla., entered the week ranked 17th in the AJGA rankings, which is a measuring stick for many of the top 12- to 18-year-old golfers playing in the United States. At the Lewis Invitational, where players ranged from 12 to 15, Vilips saved his best for last, trailing Canon Claycomb of Bowling Green, Ky., by three shots through two rounds before a final-round 68 forced a playoff between the two players.
KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational
Thursday at Blessings Golf Club, Johnson
Final Round Results
Boys
Karl Vilips, (Australia) Wesley Chapel, Fla. — 72-70-68 — 210*
Canon Claycomb, Bowling Green, Ky. — 71-68-71 — 210
Khavish Varadan, (Malaysia) Wesley Chapel, Fla. — 74-72-69 — 215
Mason Nome, Houston, Texas — 71-73-72 — 216
Aaron Chen, Fremont, Calif. — 75-69-77 — 221
Clay Seeber, Newport Beach, Calif. — 71-80-71 — 222
Robin Williams, Peterborough, United Kingdom — 71-77-74 — 222
Connor Creasy, Abingdon, Va. — 75-75-73 — 223
Kelvin Lim, Thornhill, Ontario — 73-75-75 — 223
Mauricio Figueroa, Guadalajara, Mexico — 71-76-76 — 223
Denver Davis, Fayetteville — 75-75-75 — 225
Kento Yamawaki, (Japan) Encintas, Calif. — 74-79-73 — 226
James Song, (Canada) Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. — 80-73-73 — 226
Tyler Lipscomb, Carrolton, Ga. — 80-76-72 — 228
Andy Mao, Johns Creek, Ga. — 77-78-73 — 228
Nicholas Cassidy, Johns Creek, Ga. — 75-79-74 — 228
Alex Zhu, San Ramon, Calif. — 75-78-76 — 229
Nicklas Staub, Boynton Beach, Fla. — 76-77-77 — 230
John Driscoll III, Ridgewood, N.J. — 78-77-76 — 231
Chris Kim, Cary, N.C. — 72-83-80 — 235
Vivek Vasireddy, Fremont, Calif. — 81-80-76 — 237
Connor Gaunt, Cabot — 74-82-81 — 237
Sixian (Tyler) Guo, (China) Addison, Texas — 77-83-79 — 239
Philip Choi, Corinth, Texas — 80-87-77 — 244
Jude Kim, Plantation, Fla. — 85-83-84 — 252
- — won one-hole playoff
Girls
Name^Hometown
Harmie Constantino, Taguig, Philippines — 68-75-67 — 210
Jayna Choi, Collierville, Tenn — 67-72-77 — 216
Ya Chun Chang, Taiwan, Taiwan — 74-77-68 — 219
Michaela Morard, Huntsville, Ala. — 71-75-73 — 219
Angelina Kim, Los Angeles, Calif. — 73-75-75 — 223
Sadie Englemann, Austin, Texas — 72-74-77 — 223
Brittany Shin, Cape Coral, Fla. — 78-76-71 — 225
Grace Ni, Cypress, Texas — 73-79-73 — 225
Brianna Navarrosa, San Diego, Calif. — 80-76-70 — 226
Megan Furtney, South Elgin, Ill. — 73-77-77 — 227
Xin (Cindy) Kou, (China) Windermere, Fla. — 72-76-79 — 227
Jennie Park, Carrolton, Texas — 76-80-72 — 228
Briana Chacon, Whittier, Calif. — 80-75-73 — 228
Auston Kim, St. Augustine, Fla. — 80-73-76 — 229
Katherine Muzi, Walnut, Calif. — 78-75-77 — 230
Macy Fox, Marble Falls, Texas — 76-76-79 — 231
Quynn Duong, San Jose, Calif. — 83-73-76 — 232
Rachel Heck, Memphis, Tenn. — 75-78-80 — 233
Laura Miller, Niceville, Fla. — 74-79-82 — 235
Anne Chen, (Australia) Sugar Land, Texas — 82-74-81 — 237
Kayla Sam, Anaheim Hills, Calif. — 81-83-78 — 242
Baili Park, Germantown, Tenn. — 87-82-76 — 245
Casey Ott, Conway — 81-86-84 — 251
Estibaly Garcia Rubio, Tijuana, Mexico — 85-91-83 — 259
Ellie Szeryk, London, Ontario — 74 — WD
Vilips and Claycomb, who finished 6-under 210 for the 54-hole event, went back to the par-4 18th to begin the playoff. Vilips went right to work, hitting his approach shot within 5 feet.
A quick birdie putt sealed the playoff win and gave Vilips his third career AJGA victory, with the previous two coming in 2015.
"I was really hitting it good on the range today and I just tried to transfer that to the course," Vilips said. "I had a chip-in eagle on No. 2 and that helped, and I just wanted to birdie all the par-5s today."
Vilips played in the group right in front of second-round leader Claycomb, and wasn't sure where he stood most of the day. At the Lewis Junior Invitational, mixed pairing twosomes were used and the boys' and girls' divisions competed in a three-day team tournament, with the boys winning the event 22-under par to 18-under par as the top four scores from each division were used each day.
Vilips, who said he enjoyed the format, still wished he had more of an eye on his competitor Claycomb down the stretch.
"It was fun playing (with the girls)," Vilips said. "But I wanted to play with Canon. I didn't know where we stood."
Claycomb bogeyed the par-4 14th and the par-3 15th down the stretch to give up his final round lead, then had to get out of trouble after an errant tee shot on the 18th to save par to force the playoff.
While Vilips notched his third AJGA win, Harmie Constantino also picked up her third consecutive AJGA victory.
Constantino won just two weeks ago at the AJGA All-Star at Lost Springs in Rogers. The week before that, she was a winner at the Under Armour Gary Woodland in Lawrence, Kansas.
Constantino, of Taguig, Philippines, just turned 15 on Wednesday and didn't know why Arkansas was such a lucky place with two AJGA victories in three weeks,
"I think it's just a coincidence," said Constantino, who was observed during her round by many top NCAA Division I schools. "Today, my round was about approach shots. My approach shots were very good today."
So was Constantino's finish. Trailing Vanderbilt commit Jayna Choi by four shots entering the round, Constantino took the lead midway through Thursday's play, then stormed to victory with a five-under par on the back nine, including an eagle the par-5 16th to finish off a final-round 67.
For the tournament, Constantino carded a 6-under 210, the only player to finish under par in the girls division.
"I wasn't even going to play in this tournament," Constantino said. "After Lost Springs I was done with AJGA this year, and my mom said, do you want to play Stacy Lewis? So I said, 'Sure'.
"So this was a great experience."
Sports on 06/24/2016