Malaysia's
Gavin Kyle Green holding the Lee Trevino trophy after winning the
prestigious College All-America Golf Classic title at the El Paso
Country Club in Texas on Wednesday morning.
The 19-year-old erased a four-stroke deficit over the final 13 holes of play to claim the prestigious College All-America Golf Classic title at the El Paso Country Club in Texas on Wednesday morning.
Gavin shot a sizzling five-under 66 for a three-day total of 11-under 202, finishing one stroke ahead of current world No. 1 ranked amateur Cory Whitsett at the par-71 course.
Whitsett was the second-round leader at eight-under and sank two early birdies to go to 10-under.
Gavin, meanwhile, parred his first five holes and dropped from a second-place tie going into the final round to fifth at six-under.
But a birdie on the sixth and an eagle on the par-five put Gavin back in contention.
He went on to make birdies on the 13th, 14th and 16th on the back nine before dropping a shot back on 17th.
But Gavin, who is a student of University of New Mexico, managed to sink his putt and the title was his.
It is Gavin’s third career win in the highly competitive American college circuit this year, but what makes it more satisfying is the fact that he achieved it against a star-studded field.
His mother Vivienne Beh, who relayed the news, said the College All-America Golf Classic is a huge tournament that is made up of an exclusive field of the top 30 players from Division 1 colleges in the United States as well as the reigning US Amateur Open champion.
It is also another feather in his cap since finishing as the best placed local in the Maybank Malaysian Open in March and the Selangor Masters in June this year.
”It’s his third win. He won the William H. Tucker championship recently (in September) but this is a major tournament because 12 out of the top 25 in the world are playing. It’s nice heading to the SEA Games,” said Vivienne.
Gavin, who is 18th in the world amateur rankings – already the highest yet for a Malaysian, was delighted with his come-from-behind win.
“It’s a very good thing. I had fun out there today and I was focused. I’m pretty proud of myself for doing this, especially all the good players who have won this,” he said, clutching his Lee Trevino Trophy, named after the legendary six-time Major winner.
Surely, Gavin has reason to be proud, having successfully chased down a title previously owned by the likes of Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, David Duval and Davis Love III, to name a few.
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