With his victory in Jacksonville, Young moved into the second spot on the Race to the Bahamas Standings. He has also claimed the top spot on the Arcis Golf Florida Swing Standings. (Media/PGA TOUR)
CONTACT: Laury Livsey, PGA TOUR
904-525-5538 / [email protected]
STORY BY: Staff, PGA TOUR Staff
September 25, 2020
JACKSONVILLE, Florida—Forty-five minutes before he made it into the three-man playoff at the Jacksonville Championship, Carson Young talked about a chip shot he had on No. 15 that hit the pin but stayed out of the cup. He also thought about the 18-footer he had at the end of regulation, a birdie putt that stayed straight when he thought it was going to go right.
No problem, though. In the first hole of the extra session on Hidden Hills Golf Club’s 18th hole—with David Pastore and Rowin Caron—Young rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt to capture the sudden-death title, the 500 Race to The Bahamas points and $16,000.
Hidden Hills has been very good to Young this year. In June, the Anderson, S.C., native won an Unbridled Tour event, also in a playoff, defeating European Tour regular Scott Jamieson in a playoff that also concluded on the 18th hole.
Friday, after all three players who finished at 12-under teed off, Young was the first to hit his second shot, knocking his pitching-wedge approach on the par-4 from 130 yards to 25 feet. Caron from the rough came up well short, and he faced a 48-foot putt, while Pastore’s ball landed over the green, leaving himself a 12-foot chip coming back.
Caron putted first and left his ball considerably short. Pastore was next, nearly holing his shot from the back rough. He tapped in for par. Then came Young’s turn.
“I saw it sliding just a little right, downhill a little bit and down grain. I just wanted to get it there to make sure I had a chance to make it, but I didn’t want to give it too good of a run because David was already in (for par),” Young said of his winning putt. “I hit a good putt on line like I wanted, and thankfully it just got there and dripped in.”
As the ball neared the hole, it looked like it might just stay out, pausing momentarily before falling in.
“I don’t know what it is, but I have a good track record here—two for two,” Young said of his pair of professional wins at Hidden Hills in three months. “I guess I just like the way it’s set up. You have to be precise with irons and off the tee.”
It doesn’t hurt to make putts, either.
Young shot a final-round 66 that was enough to get him into the extra session, but he had to sweat out two competitors’ putts at the end of regulation that would have eliminated him. First was Pastore’s birdie putt from 18 feet that came up just short. In the last group of the day, Caron had an eight-foot birdie putt that would have given him the win. It missed on the high side.
Of his putt, Pastore said, “I just didn’t give myself as close a chance as I wanted. I really had a bad (yardage) number to that pin, and I didn’t want to risk going long, so I chose the safer club.
“It was a fairly flat putt but not super makeable,” Pastore continued. “I was nervous, and I hadn’t been checking the scores, so I didn’t know where I stood. I knew I was in the mix, and I wanted one last (birdie), and it came up a bit short.”
Did you know Carson Young is three for four in cuts made in his Korn Ferry Tour career? He finished 72nd at the 2017 LECOM Health Challenge, tied for 55th at the 2018 Price Cutter Charity Championship and tied for 50th at the 2019 Knoxville Open. His only missed cut came at the 2019 REX Hospital Open.
RACE TO THE BAHAMAS POINTS STANDINGS
Through Jacksonville Championship
| Pos. | Player (Home Tour) | Points | Previous Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryson Nimmer (Mackenzie Tour) | 1,419.000 | 1 |
| 2 | Carson Young (Mackenzie Tour) | 684.300 | 13 |
| 3 | Hayden Shieh (Mackenzie Tour) | 640.000 | 3 |
| 4 | Stoney Crouch (Mackenzie Tour) | 552.333 | 4 |
| 5 | Cooper Musselman (Mackenzie Tour) | 500.000 | 5 |
| 6 | David Pastore (Mackenzie Tour) | 464.900 | 9 |
| 7 | Alex Smalley (Mackenzie Tour) | 382.500 | 5 |
| 8 | Rowin Caron (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 337.417 | 38 |
| 9 | Raul Pereda (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 327.017 | 6 |
| 10 | Patrick Cover (PGA TOUR Series-China) | 271.071 | 7 |
The Jacksonville Championship was the first event of the Arcis Golf Florida Swing, which rewards the top two performers in the three LOCALiQ Series tournaments in Florida. With his victory at the Jacksonville Championship, Carson Young takes the early lead, with Rowin Caron and David Pastore, runners-up in the playoff, in second place. Arcis Golf, the premier operator of public, resort and private golf clubs in the United States, has a current portfolio of 60 properties located coast to coast in 13 states, including The Club at Weston Hills—the site of the final event of the Arcis Golf Florida Swing. Arcis Golf will present a $7,500 bonus to the top finisher, with the second-best performer at the events in Jacksonville, Harbor Hills Golf Club in Lady Lake and Weston Hills in Fort Lauderdale taking home $2,500.
ARCIS GOLF FLORIDA SWING STANDINGS
Through Jacksonville Championship
| Pos. | Player (Home Tour) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carson Young (Mackenzie Tour) | 500.0 |
| T2 | David Pastore (Mackenzie Tour) | 245.0 |
| T2 | Rowin Caron (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 245.0 |
| T4 | Chris O’Neill (Mackenzie Tour) | 100.0 |
| T4 | Camilo Aguado (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 100.0 |
| T4 | MJ Maguire (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 100.0 |
| T4 | Cole Miller (Mackenzie Tour) | 100.0 |
| T4 | Leandro Marelli (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 100.0 |
| T4 | Scott Wolfes (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 100.0 |
| 10 | Patrick Flavin (PGA TOUR Latinoamérica) | 75.0 |
Key Information
By winning the Jacksonville Championship, Carson Young supplanted Hayden Shieh as No. 2 in the Race to The Bahamas Points Standings. Young began the week in 13th position. Shieh dropped to third after tying for 21st this week. Young trails overall points leader Bryson Nimmer by 734.7 points.
Thirteen players turned in three sub-70 rounds this week. They were Camilo Aguado, Shotaro Ban, Rowin Caron, Justin Doeden, Andrew Dorn, Patrick Flavin, Leandro Marelli, Garrett May, Dylan Meyer, Cole Miller, Chris O’Neill, David Pastore and Scott Wolfes.
Shotaro Ban shot rounds of 68-68-69 to tie for 15th, his first made cut of the season. He played the final round with his brother, Shintaro, and eventual champion Carson Young. Shintaro Ban made his first cut of the season, as well. He tied for 29th two weeks after playing in the PGA TOUR’s Safeway Open (missed cut).
Friday, the 61 remaining players in the field turned in 29 sub-70 rounds. There were 38 sub-70 rounds in the second round compared to 53 in Wednesday’s opening round.
Carson Young’s 66 that got him into the playoff tied him with Justin Doeden for low-round-of-the-day honors. Doeden moved up 17 positions Friday, into a tie for 11th.
Scott Wolfes began the day tied for second and was bogey-free through his first 36 holes. Wolfes made three birdies and six pars on his opening nine but then went cold, making eight pars and his first bogey of the week—at No. 16—to tie for fourth, a stroke out of the playoff. Wolfes extended his bogey-free stretch to 55 holes before his 16th-hole bogey, a streak that dated to the 14th hole of the final round of The Invitational at Auburn University Club.
Leandro Marelli made a birdie at No. 17 to get to 11-under, and he had a birdie look on the 18th hole to join the playoff but missed. Marelli still earned his best finish of the LOCALiQ Series season and second consecutive top-10 with his tie for fourth. At The Classic at Callaway Gardens in his last start, the Argentine tied for ninth.
After missing his two previous cuts and never contending at the Alpharetta Classic (tied for 46th) and The Championship at Echelon Golf Club (tied for 21st), Cole Miller enjoyed his best LOCALiQ Series finish of the season with his tie for fourth. The Penn State product has only had one over-par round this season, a 77 at The Invitational at Auburn University Club.
Cole Miller helped himself immensely with his tie for fourth. When the week began, he was 69th on the Race to The Bahamas Points Standings but moved to 24th.
Race to The Bahamas Points Standings leader Bryson Nimmer had a first this season with his even-par 71 Friday that left him tied for 11th. Previously, he had shot 14 consecutive rounds in the 60s. Nimmer hasn’t finished worse than 14th this season (The Classic at Callaway Gardens).
By shooting a final-round 67, David Pastore is the only LOCALiQ Series player who has played in all five tournaments to shoot every round under par. Pastore has only had two rounds in the 70s (both 70s, at the Alpharetta Classic and The Classsic at Callaway Gardens). His rounds this season: 70-68-69-67-67-69-69-66-70-69-67-68-67-67-67.
The 36-hole leader has still yet to win a LOCALiQ Series event this season. Rowin Caron is the latest to come up short, unable to convert his one-shot lead into victory. Bryson Nimmer was tied for second and tied for third, respectively, going into the final round of his two wins. Stoney Crouch was also tied for third, while Cooper Musselman was alone in third before coming from behind to win at The Invitational at Auburn University Club.
Other big movers Friday, able to get inside the top 15, were Chile’s Horacio Leon and American Andrew Dorn. They both shot 67s and moved from ties for 28th to ties for 15th.
Quotable
“It was pretty similar except for the rough. The rough this week was a lot thicker. The greens were a bit better this week.” –Carson Young on the differences at Hidden Hills in his two wins
“I hung out for a little bit and then kept checking the scores. I realized, Wow, I might have a chance so I went out and putted and hit a few balls.” –Carson Young on what he did after signing his scorecard
“Maybe it’s definitely a thing, a course designed like this that favors a draw and good iron play. Maybe that suits me well.” –Carson Young on Hidden Hills Golf Club
“I was a little nervous, a little jittery. That’s what you play for, to have a little bit of nerves and a chance to win.” –Carson Young on how he felt teeing off in the playoff
“I played well this week. I feel like I went out there and put up a good number today. Obviously, I would have liked to have gotten a few more under par.” –Carson Young prior to getting into the playoff
It was a very solid week. I liked that this course is a little more difficult and the scores aren’t as low as the last few. For whatever reason, I seem to play better on those types of courses.” –David Pastore
“I played solid. I’ve been in West Palm Beach the last couple of years. I’m a little more comfortable with Florida, weather, grass, everything.” –David Pastore
“I’m looking forward to these next couple of events down in this area.” –David Pastore
Next LOCALiQ Series Tournament:
September 30-October 2
The Challenge at Harbor Hills
Harbor Hills Golf Club
Lady Lake, Florida
Final-Round Weather:
Sunny and hot. High of 91. Wind variable at 5-8 mph.
