Wells Padgett (SWGA screenshot)
SCOTTSDALE, AZ (June 16, 2018) - Auburn University sophomore
Wells Padgett (Wichita, KS) birdied the second playoff hole to win the 103rd Southwestern Amateur Championship at the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain Golf Club.
Padgett edged out the defending champion
Jino Sohn (Honolulu, HI), a senior at Arizona State University, who started the day two shots behind the co-leaders Padgett and
Jordan Hahn (Spring Grove, IL) but continued his great play on the Cochise Course to compete for the title.
Sohn shot a final-round 4-under 66 -- his eighth consecutive round in the 60s on the Cochise Course going back to last year -- to get into the playoff. Then, on the first playoff hole, he was a two-putt away from successfully defending his title. But he left his 70-foot eagle putt five feet away, and couldn't convert the winner.
When Padgett got the same opportunity on the next hole, he didn't let it pass. He hit a four-iron from 220 yards to set up his own eagle putt from 70 feet. But he lagged it to tap in range, and when Sohn couldn't make his birdie putt, Padgett was the winner.
Said Padgett afterward, “I thought about laying up, but then I told myself that I didn’t fly here to finish second. I wanted to stay aggressive all day long and thought I needed to shoot 67 today to win the tournament. As it turned out, that was exactly the score I needed, but I came up one short and had to go to the playoff.”
For Padgett, it was his second career-defining moment this year. Earlier this spring, he made the winning putt as his Auburn team won the SEC Championship.
Hahn, a rising senior at the University of Wisconsin, was in the mix all day but came undone when he turned the birdieable par 5 15th into a bogey. In the end, that was the difference as he finished two shots out of a playoff after a 70.
“I had 235 yards to the pin, and hit a five iron just a little skinny,” said Hahn. “It was right on line, but in the end that probably ended my chances, as Jino and Wells were playing awfully well.”
Padgett and Sohn finished the tournament at 12-under 268, with Hahn two shots back at 10 under. University of New Mexico rising senior
Sean Carlon (Albuquerque, NM) shot a 65 to finish fourth at 9 under, with a group of three players --
Ryoto Furuya (68),
Trevor Werbylo (69), and
Tripp Kinney (66) -- tied for fifth at 5 under par.
ABOUT THE
Southwestern Amateur
72-hole stroke play championship for national-level
amateurs with a handicap index of
1.4 or better. After 36 holes, the field will be
cut to the low 36 and ties. The
SWGA Selection Committee will select players
to
compete based upon
exemptions, playing resume and rankings.
The SWGA reserves the right to invite
amateurs of national and international
reputation, as well as other amateurs "of
note", to enter into the tournament.
Applicants are urged to submit their entries
with golf resumes of accomplishment in
major tournaments and other competitive
record
information.
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