Yuki Moriyama of (Japan) Las Vegas, Nevada, and Joseph Pagdin of (United Kingdom) Orlando, Florida, each carded eight birdies and no bogeys to shoot 8-under-par 64 and share the lead after the first round.
Moriyama who started on No. 10 put together birdies in four of his first eight holes. As he made the turn, he put together another four birdies including back-to-back on hole Nos. 6 and 7.
"Everything was really working for me today, especially putting," Moriyama said. "I had 25 putts through all 18 holes today. I was striping my irons today as well which helped a lot as well. I want to forget about today's round and the low score and try to reset my mind and focus on a new round."
Pagdin who started on No. 1 is playing in his third AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods. In 2019 he finished in fourth place and brought that momentum at Carlton Woods into the first round. He carded birdies on his first four holes and another on No. 7. He added three more on the back nine to equal his best score at The Club at Carlton Woods.
"My low score was great obviously, but my mindset was great also," Pagdin said. "I got off to a great start with four birdies to start and that gave me some great momentum and I continued to push harder to see how low I could go. Tomorrow I'm going to treat it the same as today, be aggressive and attack the holes but also enjoy being on this great course!"
About the Course
The Club at Carlton Woods boasts the distinction of being one of only two private clubs in the US with a Nicklaus/Fazio design combination. Jack Nicklaus designed the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course which opened in 2001 and Tom Fazio the Tom Fazio Championship Course in 2005.
AJGA Champion Highlights
Of the 50 players who’ve won an AJGA event, a few highlights:
· Evan Vo of Austin, Texas, is already a champion in 2020. The junior took home the AJGA Junior at Vista Valley by two strokes.
· Jackson Van Paris of Pinehurst, North Carolina, looks to defend his AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods title. The three-time Rolex Junior All-American won a two-hole sudden-death playoff on No. 18 with Canon Claycomb of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Karl Vilips of Perth, Australia.
· Kelly Chinn of Great Falls, Virginia, claimed the 2019 season ending Rolex Tournament of Champions. He shot a commanding 12-under-par 274, four strokes over the runner-up.
· Brett Roberts of Coral Springs, Florida, claimed his first AJGA invitational title in 2019 at the Wyndham Invitational presented by BB&T. The Rolex Junior All-American signed a letter of intent with Florida State University this past fall.
Tournament History
The AJGA Boys Championship has occurred annually since 1987. Notable past champions of the event include current PGA TOUR professionals:
- 1987 – Jim Furyk
- 1992 – Tiger Woods
- 2005 – Kyle Stanley
- 2006 – Rickie Fowler
- 2011 – Jordan Spieth
- 2014 – Doug Ghim
19 of the Top 25 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings
1 Karl Vilips
3 Joseph Pagdin
4 Brett Roberts
5 Taehoon Song
6 Preston Summerhays
7 Bo Jin
8 Jack Heath
9 Jackson Van Paris
10 Benjamin James
11 Kelly Chinn
13 Aaron Du
14 Maxwell Ford
15 Piercen Hunt
18 Vishnu Sadagopan
21 Gordon Sargent
22 Keaton Vo
23 Andrew Yong. H Jung
24 Stephen Campbell Jr.
25 Alexander Yang
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