Jayden Ford Wins Avondale Amateur

Jayden Ford has teed off his 2022 with the biggest win of his young amateur career at the Avondale Amateur in Sydney, Australia.

The 19-year-old Judgeford Golf Club member got over the line the hard way, winning in a three-hole playoff after shooting 68, 74, 65, and 71 to finish at six-under and share the top position on the leaderboard with Jasper Stubbs and Andrew Richards.

Ford began the final round with a two-shot lead and stretched it to three after birdies at the third and seventh holes, but his hard work was undone with a double bogey at the par 5 ninth. Richards, who was playing with Ford, made birdie to equal the lead with nine holes to play.

The final nine holes were a battle of attrition, with Stubbs a shot behind in the group in front. Ford ground out par after par throughout the closing stages of the tournament, and with Stubbs picking up shots at the 14th and 15th holes, there were now three at the top of the leaderboard after 72-holes.

The overnight leader, Ford, grabbed the initiative on the second playoff hole by hitting an eight-iron to 10-feet and converting the birdie.

With one hole left, the trio returned to the 18th, and Ford once again proved he was up to the task. He slotted his drive to the right-hand side of the fairway, which meant he was a solid mid-iron shot away from victory.

Both Stubbs and Richards hit their tee shots into the left trees, which all but sealed the victory for Ford. He proceeded to hit his second to with a couple of metres of the hole and rolled in another birdie to seal the win.