DES MOINES, Iowa — LSU signee Clayton Rotz has proven once again why he is considered one of the nation’s top junior golfers as he fired a 4-under 68 in Friday’s final round to finish runner-up at the 90th Western Junior Championship at the Wakonda Club.
Rotz, a native of Chambersburg, Pa., finished two strokes behind tournament champion Cody Gribble of Dallas, Texas, with an impressive 72-hole score of 4-under 284 at the par 72 layout.
Rotz teed off in the final round in a three-way tie for fifth place as he opened the championship with solid rounds of even-par 72, 1-under 71 and 1-over 73 before lighting up the course with a 4-under 68 on Friday to finish the competition in second place.
The Western Junior Championship was officially founded by the Western Golf Association in 1914 as the first national junior championship in the United States. It boasts an impressive list of past winners and alumni that includes such PGA Tour standouts as Fred Couples, Jim Furyk, Tom Lehman, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
Rotz continues his streak of impressive play as he earned a top-five finish at the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament of Champions two weeks ago at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pa., near his hometown of Chambersburg.
The lefty wrapped up the championship in a three-way tie for fifth with a 72-hole total of 1-under 279, including an impressive 4-under par 66 in the first round to finish the day with a share of the lead followed by rounds of 70, 73 and 70 in the final three rounds of the event.
This year’s Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament of Champions included a field of 71 of the nation’s top amateur golfers from a total of 32 states and as far away as Hawaii. It is arguably the top amateur tournament in the country as only the annual U.S. Amateur Championship awards more U.S. Walker Cup points than the Sunnehanna Amateur.