Posts hometown win at Mesa’s Longbow Golf Club.
image via: AJGA
Mesa resident Johnnie Clark took first place in the PING Heather Farr Classic, held April 14-17 at Longbow Golf Club. In its 24th year – 19th at Longbow – Clark tied the -14 scoring record set last year by 2021 champion, Anawin Pikulthong, of Gilbert.
He started out with a pair of 68s to sit tied for the lead alongside three players, including 2020 champion, Adam Miller, of Phoenix. He shot 32-36 in the first round, then 36-32 in the second round, including 4-under par over three holes, beginning at 13 and ending at 15, where he made an eagle-3 on the reachable par 5.
Clark picked up where he left off in the final round, uncorking what has to be one his best competitive performances, with a spectacular 8-under 63. The two-time AJGA champion left no doubt, carding five birdies in the first seven holes before making the turn at 5-under 30. He picked up four more birdies (and a lone bogey) on the back nine to cruise to victory by six strokes over a notoriously strong field, which featured 31 players in the top 100 of the Rolex AJGA Rankings across 19 states.
Miller (67-69-69) slid into second place at 8-under par, after closing with a pair of birdies to finish two clear of Rylan Johnson (72-68-67) of Gilbert and Jacob Sosa of Austin, Texas (65-71-71). Pikulthong came in T5 after firing -4 (71-69-69). A great finish for the Grand Canyon State, Arizona boys earned the top three spots, as well as five of the top 10.
Boosted by a second place finish in August and a win in October ’21, Clark is in 29th place on the Rolex AJGA Rankings. JGAA member since 2014, Clark has racked up 17 JGAA wins since age 9, most recently at the Bryce Molder Invitational, a PING Jr Masters Series event.
