SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Sam Burns of Shreveport, Louisiana, made birdie on No. 18 to hold onto his lead, firing a 2-under-par 70 in the final round to win the Thunderbird International Junior with a tournament total 11-under-par 205. In the Girls Division, Mika Liu of Beverly Hills, California, reclaimed the top spot to win at 4-under-par 212 tournament total.
Burns entered the final round with a two-stroke lead over the field, but felt the competition nipping at his heels from the start, but the No. 1 player in the Polo Golf Rankings held on, winning his third Invitational.
“It means a lot to me to win since it was one of my last AJGA tournaments,” said Burns, who will play at Louisiana State University in the fall. “I had to focus on my game and get myself as many opportunities to birdie as possible. I think if you do that out here you can score pretty well. Last year I had the same deal where I was leading after two rounds and lost it, but I wasn’t going to let that happen this year.”
Braden Thornberry fired the low final-round score with a 5-under-par 67, finishing second with a 10-under-par 206 tournament total. Tied for third at 7-under-par 209 were Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge, California, and Koichiro Ishika of Kakogawa, Japan, and tied for fifth at 5-under-par 211 were Sahith Theegala of Chino Hills, California, and Hidetoshi Yoshihara of Irvine, California.
Liu made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 on her way to winning her third AJGA event and second title in as many weeks after taking the inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball title. The No. 30 player in the Polo Golf Rankings was playing in her third Thunderbird International Junior.
“Every time I come to this tournament it is really special to me,” Liu said. “After three years of coming here I finally grabbed the title. My strengths today were hitting on the fairways and hitting on the greens. I was just conserving myself to not get in trouble, make pars, and grabbing birdie opportunities when I could.”
Tied in second were Angel Yin of Arcadia, California, and Bailey Tardy of Norcross, Georgia, with a 3-under-par 213 tournament total, and tied in fourth were Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, California, and Mariel Galdiano of Pearl City, Hawaii, with a 4-under-par 214.