Teenager wins Northeast Amateur for the first time
· Yahoo Sports
EAST PROVIDENCE – Tyler Watts left the door open a crack Friday and slammed it closed Saturday.
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Nobody in this Northeast Amateur field made a serious charge at his lead during the third round, so Watts decided to sprint away from them in the fourth while closing the 64th edition of this event.
Watts carded five birdies over his first 10 holes to build a six-shot advantage and was fairly comfortable from there at Wannamoisett Country Club. He became the first junior player to lift the crystal trophy and don the champion’s blazer, thanks to his 16-under total, which bested runner-up Jay Leng Jr. by five shots.
Tournament co-chairman Ben Tuthill said frequently in recent years that he believed a day would come where a teenager would triumph at this event. Watts, an Alabama native, became the first, thanks to his smooth left-handed swing and advanced game. He entered with past titles at the Sunnehanna Amateur, Alabama Amateur, Southern Junior Championship and a selection to the Junior Presidents Cup team with the United States in 2024.
“The Northeast Am is one of the biggest events we have in amateur golf,” Watts said. “To be able to add your name to the list of champions, that’s a really big honor.”
Watts bettered the 2011 total of 15-under posted by champion Peter Uihlein and trailed only the 2022 total of 19-under racked up by two-time champion Dylan Menante. His week included course and tournament records on Thursday, a 9-under 60 that vaulted Watts into the lead for good. He managed just a lone birdie on Friday before collecting seven more over his last 18 holes.
“The second round was one of the best rounds of my life, and I didn’t want that to be the talk of the tournament for me,” Watts said. “I wanted to be able to say that I walked away here as a champion.”
Leng applied a little pressure on the back nine Saturday thanks to birdies at the par-4 13th and the par-4 14th, closing his deficit to four shots. Watts got up and down after missing the green at the par-3 15th and connected for birdies at each of his next two holes. That provided enough cushion to hold off Leng and join the likes of Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Luke Donald and a host of other notable champions at this event.
“I just felt like I was picking my spots well and I was executing the way that I wanted to,” Watts said. “The front nine I definitely executed how I wanted to, for sure.”
Watts shrugged off a three-putt bogey at the par-4 18th with his victory all but certain, trading handshakes with Leng and a hug with his father, Rick, who was on his bag this week. He piled up 20 birdies across four days and made one of 11 eagles carded at the par-5 17th, a lengthy putt across the green during his historic Thursday round.
“This one definitely feels a little bit more special with it being kind of a family experience,” Watts said. “I know me and my dad will remember this for a very long time.”
Leng closed at 11-under and continued adding to a résumé that includes a top-10 finish at the ACC Championships with Stanford and a past semifinal berth at the U.S. Junior Amateur. Pepperdine standout Willy Walsh and Carson Bertagnole finished tied for third at 10-under, with Bertagnole rebounding from a 71 in his third round to shoot 4-under 65.
The warm, still air and light cloud cover made for ideal scoring conditions again on Saturday. Jake Birdwell and Connor Williams shared the round of the day at 5-under 64, and six players closed one shot behind at 65. Watts, Walsh and Bertagnole were joined by Miles Russell, who closed in a three-way tie for fifth place with Ryan Ford and Logan Reilly at 7-under.
“It was a good day,” Russell said, still less than a week removed from making the cut at the U.S. Open. “I did everything pretty solid today. Didn’t make too many silly mistakes.”
Caleb Bond fired a 66 to move into a three-way tie for eighth place alongside Max Herendeen and Ziqin Zhou at 6-under. Herendeen was the NCAA Stanford Regional champion with Illinois in 2024, and Zhou captured an individual ACC Championship crown with California this spring. Birdwell jumped 24 places to tie for 11th place and Williams climbed 34 places to tie for 19th place.
Individual standings
1, Tyler Watts 66-60-69-65 – 260
2, Jay Leng Jr. 67-64-68-66 – 265
T3, Willy Walsh 63-67-71-65 – 266; Carson Bertagnole 61-69-71-65 – 266
T5, Miles Russell 66-67-71-65 – 269; Ryan Ford 68-64-71-66 – 269; Logan Reilly 69-64-67-69 – 269
T8, Caleb Bond 69-70-65-66 – 270; Max Herendeen 67-69-65-69 – 270; Ziqin Zhou 72-65-64-69 – 270
T11, Jake Birdwell 70-69-68-64 – 271; Josiah Gilbert 70-66-68-67 – 271; Gerardo Gomez 67-65-69-70 – 271
T14, Carlos Astiazaran 73-66-67-66 – 272; Hayes Brown 70-63-71-68 – 272
T16, Noah Kent 73-64-70-66 – 273; Mateo Pulcini 64-72-69-68 – 273; Trevor Gutschewski 68-68-68-69 – 273
T19, Connor Williams 69-68-73-64 – 274; Josh Duangmanee 75-64-70-65 – 274; Jon Ed Steed 77-62-69-66 – 274; Boston Bracken 68-68-71-67 – 274; Jaden Dumdumaya 71-68-68-67 – 274; Billy Davis 66-70-70-68 – 274; Kihei Akina 66-67-72-69 – 274; Gabriel Palacios Morataya 65-71-69-69 – 274; Davis Johnson 68-71-66-69 – 274; Colin Salema 67-67-70-70 – 274; Jay Mendell 68-66-69-71 – 274; Reed Lotter 66-67-69-72 – 274; Luke Colton 69-68-65-72 – 274
T32, Peter Kim 71-69-70-65 – 275; Stewart Hagestad 69-70-70-66 – 275; John Daniel Culbreth 68-68-70-69 – 275; Dawson Lew 66-70-69-70 – 275; Gaven Lane 66-68-70-71 – 275; Chase Nevins 70-65-68-72 – 275
T38, Leo Wessel 68-66-76-66 – 276; Cayden Pope 67-70-69-70 – 276; Connor Doyal 66-69-70-71 – 276; Cooper Claycomb 70-67-67-72 – 276; Mason Howell 72-66-65-73 – 276
T43, Dean Greyserman 72-69-68-68 – 277; Ronin Banerjee 67-66-75-69 – 277; Camden Smith 69-66-70-72 – 277
T46, Tyler Loree 68-71-71-68 – 278; Baylor Larrabee 70-69-70-69 – 278; Will Hartman 70-68-69-71 – 278
T49, Michael Riebe 72-66-72-69 – 279; Dane Huddleston 68-72-70-69 – 279; Carter Loflin 68-71-70-70 – 279; Noah McWilliams 73-67-68-71 – 279; Hudson Weibel 66-69-72-72 – 279; Nathan Wang 68-67-69-75 – 279
T55, Grant Roscich 68-69-72-71 – 280; Evan Beck 72-69-68-71 – 280; Tyler Kowack 71-71-67-71 – 280; Jacob Modleski 69-68-70-73 – 280
59, Kale Fontenot 71-71-68-71 – 281
60, Grayson Wood 68-72-70-76 – 286
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Teenager wins Northeast Amateur for the first time