Posts second-best finish in a decade.
(left to right) Scott McNevin (Captain), Charlie Palmer, Rylan Johnson, Anawin Pikulthong, Adam Miller, Jason Jones (Assistant Captain)
Hosted by the Wyoming State Golf Association, the 49th Junior America’s Cup teed off July 25-29 at Powder Horn Golf Club in Sheridan, Wyoming. Team Arizona finished in fifth place among an elite international field of 18 teams, marking the Grand Canyon State’s second-best finish in the past 10 years after earning fourth place in 2018.
Gilbert’s Rylan Johnson had the hot hand in the first round, shooting 4-under 67, followed by Scottsdale’s Adam Miller at 73, and Charlie Palmer of Phoenix and Gilbert’s Anawin Pikulthong both at 77. Miller led the team in the second round, with a 2-under-par 69, Johnson 70, Pikulthong 72 and Palmer 73. Palmer then dialed up his game for the final round, carding a team-leading 3-under 68 that day en route to Arizona’s 217-211-219—647 overall finish at 8-over par.
Individually, Johnson’s 4-under-par 209 landed five strokes off the pace. He finished T6, followed by Palmer at T15 (+5), Miller T22 (+8) and Pikulthong T46 (+16).
Southern California won the tournament at -19, a whopping 25-stroke margin over second place Utah at +4, and Nevada slid into third place at +6.
In the 54-hole competition, the three lowest scores determined the team score for each four-person squad representing Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Mexico I, Mexico II, Montana, Nevada, Northern California, Oregon, San Diego, Southern California, Sun Country, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
At the top of Southern California’s championship team, 2021 Sally Pini medalist, Luciano Conlan, shot 65-71-68 (204) to finish at 9-under par. His teammate Eric Lee finished one stroke back at 8-under par.
Past Junior America’s Cup participants who have gone on to successful professional careers include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Corey Pavin, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Ryan Moore, Kyle Stanley and Tony Finau.
