Ford, Zhang impressive winners in Rolex Tournament of Champions at PGA National

    David Ford of Peachtree Corners, Ga. and Rose Zhang of Irvine, Calif. and No. 1 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) had taken command of the respective Boys and Girls divisions of the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the premier event on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) through three rounds at the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

   Saturday, they proved they could close the deal.

   Ford, who grabbed the lead in the second round and never let it go, finished up with a businesslike 4-under-par 68 at PGA National’s Fazio Course that gave him a 72-hole total of 22-under 264 that was seven shots clear of the elite field of junior golfers.

   Zhang was her typically efficient self with a six-birdie, no-bogey 6-under 66 on the Champion Course that gave her a 16-under 272 total that was four shots clear of stubborn runnerup Xin (Cindy) Kou of China.

   Ford, who will join the North Carolina program next summer, had put a stranglehold on the trophy with a brilliant 10-under 62 on the Fazio Course in Friday’s third round.

   The left-hander has been playing some really strong golf for a while now, earning wins in the AJGA Invitational at Sedgefield and The Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass and a tie for third place in the PING Invitational at Karsten Creek. But he saved his best stuff for the biggest event of the year.

   He toured the front nine of the 7,122-yard, par-71 Champion Course in 1-under with birdies at the third and seventh holes around a bogey at the fifth. Two more birdies at the 10^th and 13^th holes gave him a 4-under round for the day.

   Fellow Georgian Bruce Murphy of Johns Creek matched Ford’s final-round 68 and held on for runnerup honors with a 15-under 271 total. Murphy, who is headed for Tennessee next summer, had a share of the opening-round lead with a 7-under 65 at the Fazio Course and hung around near the top of the leaderboard all week. There was just no catching Ford.

   Sean-Karl Dobson of Austin, Texas had the best round of the day Saturday, a sparkling 7-under 65 at the Champion Course, as he climbed to third place on the final leaderboard at 14-under 272, a shot behind Murphy. Dobson, who has made a verbal commitment to join the Stanford program in the summer of 2022, had fired a 6-under 66 on the Fazio Course in Friday’s third round.

   Gordon Sargent of Birmingham, Ala. was almost as good as Dobson was in the final two rounds as he finished with a 5-under 67 in Saturday’s final round after matching Dobson’s 66 on the Fazio Course Friday. That left Sargent, who will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt next summer, in sole possession of fourth place at 13-under 272.

   William Love of Atlanta had shared the opening-round lead with Murphy and also spent the week hanging around the top of the leaderboard. He closed with a 1-under 70 at the Champion Course to finish alone in fifth place at 11-under 275. Love will join the program at Duke next summer.

   Downingtown West’s Nick Gross, the District One Class AAA champion as a freshman this fall, prevailed in his week-long battle with Carlisle senior John Peters, the District Three Class AAA champion this fall, for low-Pennsylvania honors, although both ran out of gas a little in Saturday’s final round. Junior golfers don’t play a lot of 72-hole tournaments.

   Gross, who was a dominant winner in the Boys 13-and-under division in the inaugural Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship at Koasati Pines at Coushatta in Kinder, La. last week, salvaged his worst round in a while by making birdie at his last two holes, the eighth and ninth, to finish up with a 7-over 78 at the Champion Course.

   That left Gross in the group tied for 50^th place at 7-over 293. He was coming off his best round of the week, a 4-under 68 at the Fazio Course in Friday’s third round.

   Peters, winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ Championship last summer at Hershey Country Club’s East Course, finished up with an 8-over 79 and was alone in 56^th place at 295. Peters also had his best round of the week Friday on the Fazio Course, a 2-under 70.

   On the girls side, Zhang completed a wire-to-wire romp to her second straight Rolex Tournament of Championships trophy. Some of the junior players haven’t had as many competitive opportunities as others, but Zhang has been playing a lot of  golf.

   The Stanford-bound Zhang got the most and then some out of her U.S. Women’s Amateur experience in August at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., reaching the final and then going 38 holes to finally defeat Southern California senior Gabriela Ruffels and claim the Robert Cox Trophy.

   Beginning the day with a three-shot lead, Zhang made a birdie on the fifth hole and eight pars on the outgoing nine. Kou birdied four of her first six holes and actually caught Zhang, the two tied for the lead heading to the back nine. But Zhang turned it on down the stretch over the 6,175-yard, par-72 Fazio Course with birdies at 10, 11, 13, 14 and, finishing in style, at 18.

   Zhang will collect her second straight Rolex Junior Player of the Year award this week. Then it will be on to Champions in Houston and the U.S. Women’s Open. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she contends and not just for low amateur.

   Kou, a Southern Cal recruit, was the only other player in the same zip code as Zhang as she matched the 5-under 67 she fired in the second round at the Fazio Course in Saturday’s finale. That gave her a 12-under 276 total, four shots behind Zhang.

   It was six more shots back to Megha Ganne, the teen phenom from Holmdel, N.J. and Madison Hewlett of Oldsmar, Fla., both of whom landed on 6-under 282 and in a tie for third place.

   Ganne, who plans to join Zhang at Stanford in the summer of 2022, closed with a 3-under 69. Ganne reached the semifinals of the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss. Hewlett, who will join the Florida State program next summer, matched Zhang’s final round with a sparkling 66 of her own.

   Lucie Malchirand of France closed with a 5-under 67 to get a share of fifth place with Lake Worth, Fla. phenom Alexa Pano, each ending up at 4-under 284. Pano seems like she’s been around forever, but she’s still only 16 and always seems to be particularly tough when playing close to home in South Florida. She closed with a 3-under 69 on the Fazio Course.

   Speaking of phenoms, Warren, Ohio seventh-grader Gianna Clemente, one of the youngest players in the field, finished up with a 1-over 73 on the Fazio Course and finished in a tie for 11^th place at 2-over 290. The kid seems to be going places.

   Katie Li of Basking Ridge, N.J., a product of the New Jersey Section PGA Junior Tour, closed with a solid 2-under 70 at the Fazio Course and finished among the group tied for 18^th place at 5-over 293.

   Another Jersey girl, Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J., whose competitive roots are in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, also finished strong, matching the 1-under 71 she registered in the second round on the Fazio Course to finish in a tie for 35^th place at 11-over 299.

   Pennsbury senior Jade Gu, who wrapped up her scholastic career by finishing in a tie for ninth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County last month, got better in each round at PGA National, closing with a 1-over 73 at the Fazio Course as she finished among the group tied for 47^th place at 305.