Spartanburg, S.C. – Ominous clouds welcomed players to the start of the final round of the Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational at the Country Club of Spartanburg. The day would quickly turn to blue skies and beaming sunshine as the heat started to turn up on the course as well. A play-off would ultimately decide the 26th champion, but a battle would take place before three players stood on the 18th tee for a champion to be crowned.
Starting the day with two tied at the top, Allan Kournikova (Palm Beach, Florida) and David Ford (Peachtree Corners, Georgia) were firing at the flag early – Kournikova carding a birdie and the first and Ford following with a birdie on the par-4 second. Kournikova would add another birdie before he made the turn, taking a one shot lead into the back nine.
The back nine is when things started to get interesting. Kournikova hit his approach shot on the 10th hole to inside 15 feet – making that putt to extend his lead. Little did he know a familiar name would begin his comeback into contention. Gordon Sargent (Mountain Brook, Alabama) has consistently finished in the top-5 the last 2 years and was grinding at the chance to stand in the winner’s circle. Sargent fired a back nine -4 under 32 to place himself at -6 under for the tournament and would await his fate.
A big swing in the leaderboard came on the par-5 17th as Kournikova made an unfortunate bogey and Ford would have an easy two putt birdie after hitting the green in two. The two would head to the 18th tee tied again. They would each par their final hole in regulation placing them in a three way tie with Sargent.
Ford and Kournikova both found the right side of the fairway while Sargent blocked his tee shot in the right tree line. Ford would be first to hit and come up just short in the green side bunker. Kournikova, feeling the adrenalin, would find the back of the green as the ball nestled up against the second cut of rough. Sargent had a shot at the green but would clip a tree limb on his approach, landing short of the bunker and a faded chance at the title. Ford would hit a flawless bunker shot to just inside two feet and cherish a sweet moment becoming the 26th champion. When asked what it meant to join the elite list of champions Ford said “I knew coming into this event the list of champions was pretty special, but to now have my name added it means just a little more. A lot of those guys are on the tour now and I can only hope I continue to follow in their footsteps. This event has been a bucket list to win and I’m thankful I was able to grind it out to the end.”
David Ford splashes out of the front greenside bunker on the first playoff hole 
Ford poses in front of the leaderboard following his tournament victory
