Evergreen – Rolex Tournament of Champions winners Philip Francis and Ashleigh Simon learned Sunday that golf isn’t only about conquering opponents and surviving a golf course.
Sometimes it means weathering the storm.
As if handling the tournament pressure wasn’t challenging enough, another day of steady rain at Hiwan Golf Club, a suspension of play for almost two hours because of fog and 50-degree temperatures that felt like 30 gave the sport’s top junior players something else to think about.
But Francis and Simon, confident 17-year-olds from warm climates, decided somebody was going to win arguably the most prestigious event on the American Junior Golf Association circuit and it might as well be them, although neither broke par for their final round.
“I cherish playing in weather like this,” said Francis, a Scottsdale, Ariz., resident whose even-par 70 on Sunday left him at 2-under 278, one stroke better than runner-up Peter Uihlein of Bradenton, Fla. “A lot of kids aren’t going to have the confidence to play in it, and they don’t know how to control the ball as well.”
Francis, a high school senior- to-be who has orally committed to UCLA, earned his third AJGA individual title of the year and solidified his standing as the top junior golf in the nation, if not the world. Simon, from Johannesburg, South Africa, also made a statement. She won on U.S. soil for the first time.
“This has been a dream of mine,” said Simon, who typically makes one trip to the States each year to play in two or three tournaments. Simon aspires to play someday on the LPGA Tour and hopes this was a start.
“I got a bit edgy with a bad start but just tried to hang in there today,” she said.
Simon grinded around for a final-round 75, which gave her a 72-hole score of 6-over 286 and a one-stroke margin over Arizonan Taylore Karle. Simon, who took a five-stroke lead into the final round, overcame a bogey on her first hole (No. 10) and a double bogey on her second hole. She did not make a birdie but played well enough to earn the trophy.
Coming from behind, Karle made a late charge and had a chance to force a playoff. But she missed a 25-footer for birdie on the final hole (No. 9) when the putt stopped 18 inches short. Simon still had to make a 3-footer for par but took a deep breath and knocked it in.
Francis canceled out three bogeys with three birdies. None was more pivotal than his birdie on the 458-yard, par-4 11th, considered one of Hiwan’s toughest holes. Coming off a three- putt bogey on No. 10, Francis hit a 6-iron to within 15 feet of the cup and made the left-to-right bender. That gave Francis a two-stroke lead for at least a little cushion. A safely played bogey on No. 18 preserved his victory.
Broomfield’s Steve Ziegler began the day in a tie for third place but bogeyed two of his first three holes and shot 74. He finished in seventh place, probably the best accomplishment of his career, considering the strength of the field.
“My short game didn’t give me any help,” said Ziegler, a senior-to-be at Legacy High School and the reigning Colorado Class 5A state champion.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
