Jacob Bergeron sinks 25-foot putt to win Junior Golf Championship

Joseph Halm, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, December 29, 2012 6:04 p.m.

Jacob Bergeron of Slidell hits onto the sixth green at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Tommy Moore Memorial Junior Golf Championship in Algiers on Saturday. - (Chris Ganger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Slidell?s Jacob Bergeron drained a 25-foot par putt on the final hole to win the Boys 14-18 Division of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Tommy Moore Memorial Junior Golf Championship during a frigid and windy Saturday at Lakewood Golf Club.

Bergeron, who won the Boys 12-13 Division last year, missed a 5-foot birdie on 17, but recovered from a short approach on the 18^th to close out the dramatic win with an even-par 72 on the final day. He shot a 1-under 143 for the tournament.

?I was looking at the putt, and just like all the putts I had all day, I couldn?t really tell how it was breaking,? he said. ?I just said play it left edge and see what happens, and it broke right in the middle of the hole. It was a cool feeling. I?m really just speechless right now, and I?m super blessed.?

Ross Bell of Madison, Miss., finished second with an even-par 144, and St. Paul?s Brandon Pierce finished third with 2-over-par 146. Bell opened with four straight birdies, but double bogeyed 17 to finish at even-par.

?It was fun trying to play in these conditions,? Bergeron said. ?It was definitely a struggle for the most part. I just played my game and tried to capitalize on the birdie opportunities that I got.?

Pierce, an LSU signee, said his chip-in on 10 helped jump start his back nine after he finished the front nine at 3-over-par.

?I chipped it to within an inch of where I wanted to land it, and it went in,? he said. ?I guess that got me back into it because I don?t think I was completely 100 percent focused. It got me through the rest of the round. The conditions were pretty tough. The first day, I played the first 12 holes with almost no wind, and all day today, it was a two, three, four club wind.?

The tournament featured 80 golfers from eight states in four different divisions. Hayden White of Benton, La., won the Boys 12-13 division with a 154 two-day total. White shared the Day 1 lead after shooting a 4-over-par 76 and said a birdie on the first hole followed by an up-and-down save on the par-3 third set the tone for his day.

?I went through the whole round not making too many bad mistakes,? he said. ?The worst I had today was a double, and it didn?t really get to me that much because I didn?t want it to change my thinking. I had a good short game today.?

In the Girls 14-18 Division, Morgan Nadaline, of Anderson, Ind., sank a six-foot bogey putt on 18 to edge McGehee freshman Angelica Harris for the girls title by one stroke.

Nadaline shot an 80 for a 161 two-day total. After a 3-over-par front nine, she double bogeyed 12 before rebounding for a birdie on 15.

?I think I played better than I did yesterday,? she said. ?I definitely made more putts, but it was just so windy, and the cold made it worse. A lot was going through my mind (on the last putt). I?m not the best putter there is, so some of those putts are iffy for me. I just knew I needed to have confidence, and I made it.?

Harris, who made a triple bogey on the ninth hole, rallied for a birdie on 18 after she hit a 6-iron to within a foot of the pin. She finished with 82 for a 162 two-day total.

?The last hole I was really excited because I just wanted to finish strong,? Harris said. ?Yesterday, I didn?t play that hole too well, so I was able to redeem myself and play it better. I was affected by the wind a little bit, but I just love to play. It doesn?t matter what the conditions are I?ll always be out here. ?

Presley Baggett of Diamondhead, Miss., won the Girls 12-13 Division, finishing with a 176.

?I didn?t play as well as I usually do,? she said. ?The conditions weren?t the worst, but they were pretty bad. The wind was the worst, but it feels really good because I know today was a hard win. My chipping was a lot better than it has been as was my putting.?

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Follow Joseph Halm at twitter.com/josephhalm.

Source: http://highschoolsports.nola.com/news/article/-280781310011545467/jacob-bergeron-sinks-25-foot-putt-to-win-junior-golf-championship/

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