Who are the 5 hottest players in Florida?
25 Jul 2014
see also: M.J. Maguire Rankings
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M.J. Maguire
by Jack Persons, AmateurGolf.com
How’s this for a corny opener:
AmateurGolf.com can’t decide what’s hotter…
A Florida mid-day round, or the following five
Florida golfers?
In our eyes, it has to be the golfers. These
five players have separated themselves from
the rest of the pack by playing fantastic golf
this year and performing down the stretch at
big-name national golf tournaments.
Today, we stop in Florida as we continue to
look for the summer’s best golfers. The
Sunshine State is perpetually competitive, and
the following list of stars exemplify exactly
that. Here are Florida’s five hottest golfers of
the summer.
MJ Maguire
The University of North Florida’s Maguire
(pictured, top-left)
came from behind in the final round of the
Southern Amateur to win by three strokes.
While the rest of the field took a beating at
the Honors Course in Tennessee, Maguire
stayed steady and was rewarded with what he
called “the biggest win of my amateur
career.” That might be low-balling the
accomplishment. Not only is the Southern one
of the most prestigious tournaments in the
country, but he also earned a spot in next
year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Sam Horsfield
The England native—who now resides in
Florida—qualified for two USGA championships
this summer. He went from the U.S. Amateur
Public Links, where he lost in the second
round, to Texas for the U.S. Junior Amateur.
As of the publishing of this article, he had
reached the quarterfinals of the championship,
where he will face Andreas Halvorsen.
Horsfield also won the New Year’s Invitational.
It has been quite the year for the young star.
Rigel Fernandes
Fernandes, who attends the University of
South Florida, won the 2014 Rice Planter’s
Amateur by a very impressive seven strokes.
He shot 17-under for the week, a dominant
performance in a very strong field and
prestigious tournament. Fernandes also put up
a strong showing at the U.S. Amateur Public
Links, tying for 21st in the stroke play portion
of the event before losing in the first round.
Joe Alfieri
Mid-amateur Joe Alfieri has played the
majority of his summer tournaments in Florida
this year, and played well in all of them. To
start the summer, he took runner-up in the
Florida Mid-Amateur Stroke Play
championship. He followed it up with a tied for
15th place finish in June at the Florida
Amateur Championship, and finally finished off
July with a tied for 11th place finish at the
Florida Open. A top-20 finish at the
Birmingham National Invitational was the icing
on the cake.
Taylor Funk
Yes, Funk’s father is the infamous Fred Funk.
He has played very well on the amateur
circuit this summer, as he finished in the top-
10 at the rain-shortened Trans-Miss
Championship, qualified for the U.S. Amateur
Championship, and opened with a five-under
65 at the Porter Cup. He is currently tied for
sixth after two rounds.