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AJGA Rolex T.O.C. - Alison Lee and Benjamin Griffin win titles
Alison Lee
Alison Lee

LANCASTER, Pa. — Alison Lee of Valencia, Calif., won the Girls Division of the Rolex Tournament of Champions after carding an even-par final- round 70 to become the first girl since Kellee Booth in 1993 to win the Rolex Girls Junior Championship and the Rolex Tournament of Champions in the same year. Lee finished the tournament at 4-under-par 276 and bested the field by six strokes in her final AJGA stroke-play event.

Benjamin Griffin of Chapel Hill, N.C., won the Boys Division down the stretch, capturing his first AJGA title. He made six birdies en route to a 5-under-par final-round 65, part of his tournament total of 8-under-par 272.

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Rolex Tournament of Champions was a 72-hole stroke play competition played on the par-70 Lancaster Country Club. The event featured 72 boys and 60 girls, ages 12-18, from 31 states and six countries. The Boys Division played the course at 6,679 yards, while the Girls Division played the course at 6,082 yards.

Lee, the No. 1-ranked player in the Polo Golf Rankings, made three birdies in the final round and never relinquished her lead after the second round.

After bogeys on Nos. 8, 9 and 10, Lee turned things around on No. 11, where she made birdie on the tough par-4. She took that momentum and made par on every hole coming in.

“There’s not a word to describe this, it is a feeling you just don’t experience,” said Lee, the five-time Rolex Junior All-American. “This keeps me playing.”

In her AJGA career, Lee has won four different invitationals including; the 2012 ANNIKA Invitational, the 2012 PING Invitational, the 2013 Rolex Girls Junior Championship and the Rolex Tournament of Champions. In the three events Lee has played in 2013, she has won them all.

“[2013] has been crazy,” Lee said. “My first AJGA tournament was supposed to be Heather Farr, but I withdrew because my game was just a mess, my confidence was nowhere to be found, so I took a couple weeks off. “But after winning Rolex Girls, it put me back to where I was, with my game doing really well, it’s been a really great year for me.”

After an illustrious AJGA career, Lee will attend UCLA in the fall, and finishes her junior career tied for 11th all-time in AJGA victories (9). Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, Calif., finished second with a tournament total of 2-over-par 282, followed by Casey Danielson of Osceola, Wis., who finished at 3-over-par 283. Nicole Morales of South Salem, N.Y., and Hannah O’Sullivan of Paradise Valley, Ariz., tied for fourth at 5-over-par 285.

In the Boys Division, Griffin’s final-round 5- under-par 65 included six birdies and many exciting putts. Griffin had a 2-under-par front nine and added another birdie on No. 12. No. 15 was fun for Griffin; he hit his approach shot to the front of the green, 81 feet from the hole.

“I was trying to get good speed, and get it on a line, I was not thinking about making it,” Griffin said. “I knew it was my day after that fell.” The 81-foot putt for birdie on the hole was just the beginning.

Griffin separated from the field on No. 17, when he made a 25-foot putt for birdie on the 182- yard par-3. Good to break a tie with Adam Wood of Zionsville, Ind.

“I just had to stay focused [on No.18] and pick a target,” Griffin said. “It’s not over until all 72 holes are played.”

Griffin, who missed the green on No. 18, said he was nervous about the chip because he knew he had to get up and down.

Griffin knocked the chip to three feet for the win, then made his 11th putt on the back nine to win the event. He made 25 total putts in the final round.

“It’s incredible looking at past names,” Griffin said. “It just doesn’t get much better than this, seeing guys like Phil Mickelson; it’s just an awesome feeling to be able to put my name on the list.”

Wood matched Griffin’s final-round 65 to come in second with a tournament total of 7-under- par 273. Matt Gilchrest of Southlake, Texas, followed in third after he carded a 5-under-par 275. Theo Humphrey of Greenwich, Conn., and Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, Ill., tied for fourth after posting 4-under-par 276. In sixth was Sam Burns of Shreveport, La., with a 1- under-par 279. Seventh belonged to Zecheng “Marty” Dou of Beijing, China, who finished the tournament at even-par. Cheng Jin of Singapore, came in eighth at 1-over-par. Carl Yuan of Lake Mary, Fla., finished ninth after finishing 2-over-par.

For more information about the Rolex Tournament of Champions, or the AJGA please visit AJGA.org, or call AJGA headquarters at (770)868-4200.

ABOUT ROLEX AND THE AJGA

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 6,000 junior golfers from 49 states and more than 50 countries. To ensure scholarship opportunities for all junior golfers who have the skill, the AJGA created the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program to provide financial assistance to young players in need.

Rolex, which is in its fourth decade of support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. Along with sponsoring the Rolex Girls Junior Championship and the Rolex Tournament of Champions, Rolex is the proprietor of the Rolex Junior All-America Teams and founding partner of the ACE Grant.

Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Ralph Lauren became the AJGA's second Premier Partner.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 500 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Brandt Snedeker, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Stacy Lewis, Vicky Hurst, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel.

View results for Rolex Tournament of Champions
ABOUT THE Rolex Tournament of Champions

The Rolex Tournament of Champions features 84 of the best junior golfers in the world. The tournament assembles the Rolex Junior All-Americans with the past year’s champions to create The Greatest Week in Junior Golf. Format is 72 holes of stroke play, with boys and girls competitions.

View Complete Tournament Information

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