AJGA WYNDHAM INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY TRUIST PRE-TOURNAMENT NOTES
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Many of the best junior golfers in the world are set to play in the 21st annual AJGA Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist beginning Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at Sedgefield Country Club. The Wyndham Invitational is a “major” on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) schedule. AJGA players will use the same course setup PGA TOUR golfers play during the Wyndham Championship each summer. The Donald Ross-designed course will play 7,126 yards for the Wyndham Invitational.
Wyndham Invitational Alumni on PGA TOUR: The number is now triple digits. With the seven Wyndham Invitational alumni who are PGA TOUR rookies this year, 102 alumni of this event have now reached the PGA TOUR. The golfers below played the AJGA Wyndham Invitational early in their careers, including four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka, 2015 Masters champion and FedExCup champion Jordan Spieth, 2011 Wyndham winner and 2012 U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson and 2013 Wyndham Championship winner and 2018 Masters Champion Patrick Reed. Several years from now, some of the golfers playing in this year’s Wyndham Invitational will also be playing professional golf. Wyndham Invitational alumni that reached the PGA TOUR are listed below with the years they played here:
Anders Albertson (2020) Byeong-Hun An (2007, '09) Mark Anderson (2004) Blayne Barber (2008)
Daniel Berger (2010) Zac Blair (2008) Bronson Burgoon (2003-'05) Sam Burns (2012, '13)
Brian Campbell (2011) Roberto Castro ('02) Bud Cauley (2006) Cameron Champ ('14)
Wyndham Clark (2010, '11) Austin Cook (2009) John Curran (2003) ZeCheng Dou (2012)
Tyler Dunlap (2010,'11) Harris English (2005) Doug Fortner (2004) Rickie Fowler (2006)
Bobby Gates (2003, '04) Joey Garber (2009) Doug Ghim (2012, '13) Taylor Gooch('08-09)
Cody Gribble (2006, '07) Lanto Griffin (2006) Emiliano Grillo (2009-'10) Luke Guthrie (2008)
Chesson Hadley (2006) Paul Haley (2004,'05) Matt Hansen (2010) Nick Hardy (2013-14)
B. Harman (2002, '04)# Russell Henley (2006) Kramer Hickock (2006) Bo Hoag (2007)
M. Hoffmann (2007) Tom Hoge (2007) Billy Horschel (2005) Mu Hu (2004, '08)
Mark Jones (2005 Ryo Ishikawa (2006) S. Kaufman (2009,'10) Tee-K Kelly (2012)
Michael Kim (2009) Chris Kirk (2003) Kevin Kisner (2003) Patton Kizzire (2003)
Colt Knost (2003) Brooks Koepka (2007) Ben Kohles (2007, '08) Kelly Kraft (2007)
Scott Langley (2007) Danny Lee (2007) Lucas Lee (2004, '05) Richard Lee (2006)
Alexander Levy (2013) Luke List (2002) Adam Long (2006) D. McCarthy (2010)
Lee McCoy (2010, '12) Max Mcgreevy (2013) Tyler McCumber (2008, '09) Zack Miller (2002)
Keith Mitchell (2009) Collin Morikawa (2013, '14) Taylor Moore (2011) G. Murray (2010,'12)
Matthew NeSmith (2012) Andrew Novak (2013) Carlos Ortiz (2007) John Peterson('06, '07)
Martin Piller (2004) Jonathan Randolph (2007) Patrick Reed (2006, '07) Seth Reeves (2008,'09)
Davis Riley (2013) Wes Roach (2006-07) Sam Saunders (2002-'04) S. Scheffler (2012)
Conrad Schindler (2005, 07) Robby Shelton (2010) Greyson Sigg (2012) W. Simpson ('02,'04)
Jordan Spieth (2008‚'09) Kyle Stanley (2005) Brett Stegmaier (2002) Scott Stevens (2014)
Robert Streb (2005) Hudson Swafford (2005) Justin Thomas (2008, '10)# C. Thompson (09, '10)
Brendan Todd (2002, '03) Ethan Tracy (2007, '08) Cameron Tringale (2004) K. Tway (2005,'06)
Peter Uihlein (2003, '07)# Richy Werenski (2009) Matthew Wolff (2015) Bobby Wyatt (07, '09)
Andrew Yun (2006,'08,'09)# Will Zalatoris (2010-'12)
#Won Wyndham Invitational.
Top-20 Juniors in Field: Nine of the top-20 players in the June 3 Rolex AJGA Rankings are in the Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist field:
– No. 2 Eric Lee, class of 2023 from Fullerton, Calif.
– No. 4 Nicholas Gross, class of 2024 from Downington, Pa.
– No. 5 Jack Roberts, class of 2025 from Saint Mary’s, Ga.
– No. 6 Jackson Koivun, class of 2023 from San Jose, Calif.
– No. 9 Sihao Cong, class of 2023 from Irvine, Calif.
– No. 15 Sebastian Gamboa, class of 2023 from Merida, Mexico
– No. 17 Matt Moloney, class of 2024 from Vienna, Va.
– No. 18 Andrew Ramos, class of 2024 from Blaine, Minn.
– No. 19 William Sides, class of 2022 from Tulsa, Okla.
Top Player in the Field: Eric Lee, No. 2 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, is the top player in the Wyndham Invitational field. During the 2021 campaign, Lee recorded four top-10 finishes in AJGA events and finished first in the Rolex Tournament of Champions at 8-under-par 278. The Fullerton, Calif., native made a verbal commitment to play college golf at the University of California, Berkeley. Lee earned his first team honor in the 2021 campaign as a Rolex Junior All-American.
Peachtree Corners, Ga. Represented Again: Each of the last two Wyndham Invitational champions was a native of Peachtree Corners, Ga., David Ford won the 2020 Wyndham Invitational, and his brother, Maxwell, won last year’s tournament. The Maxwell brothers are now playing at the University of Georgia and the University of North Carolina respectively, but Dalton Burts represents Peachtree Corners in this year’s field and will look to make it three straight from the Gwinnett County town northeast of Atlanta.
Class of 2022 Represented: Golfers who just graduated from high school usually leave junior golf behind and begin playing amateur events. With the top members of this year’s graduating class moving on from junior golf, the highest-ranked player from the class of 2022 is No. 19 William Sides from Tulsa, Ok. The field also includes:
Class of 2023: 3 of the top-9 players and 14 of the top-50 players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings
Class of 2024: 3 players, including No. 3 Michael Gross, in the top 18 and another who is 43rd in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Class of 2025: four players, including No. 5 Jack Roberts, each of whom is ranked in the top 82 of the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Another Haas Family Golfer: Kyle Haas, son of Wake Forest University Golf coach Jerry Haas, won the Sam Burns Classic at The Landings Club last month and is making his Wyndham Invitational debut this year. The Haas family has quite a relationship with the Wyndham Championship and the Invitational. Kyle’s father, Jerry, played the Wyndham Championship three times, his uncle Jay played the Wyndham 20 times and his cousin Bill, the 2011 FedExCup champion, has made 17 Wyndham Championship appearances. Kyle’s great uncle, Bob Goalby, won the Wyndham Championship when it was the Greater Greensboro Open in 1958. In 2016 and ’17, the Wyndham Invitational was named the Haas Family Invitational as a tribute to the long-standing relationship between the Haas family and the Wyndham Championship.
North Carolina Juniors Will Play: Some of the top junior golfers in North Carolina will play this year’s AJGA Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist. There are no special criteria for North Carolina players to get into the field; they gain entry through the same eligibility standards as the rest of the golfers. North Carolina golfers are listed below with the year of their high school graduation, hometown and their June 2 Carolinas Golf Association N.C. Junior Boys Rankings:
Kyle Haas, 2023, Winston-Salem (7) Will Hartman, 2025, Marvin (7)
Michael La Sasso, 2022, Raleigh (14) Tyler Jones, 2023, Jacksonville (17)
Carson Bertagnole, 2025, Pinehurst (23)
Qualifying Tournament: More North Carolina juniors can make the field through the Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist qualifying tournament, set for 7 a.m. on Sunday, June 12 at Holly Ridge Golf Links in Archdale, N.C., with a maximum field of 60 golfers. The top-four finishers from the qualifier are estimated to advance into the Wyndham Invitational field. The full qualifier field, which includes many central North Carolina players, is here: https://bit.ly/3NjeG9N.
PGA TOUR Golfer’s Son in Field: Jackson Byrd, son of PGA TOUR golfer Jonathan Byrd, is 52nd in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and is making his first Wyndham Invitational start. He won the 2021 AJGA Matthew NeSmith Junior Championship. The elder Byrd is an alumnus of Clemson University who has five PGA TOUR victories and 14 Wyndham Championship starts to his credit.
Future ACC Players in the field: Six of the golfers in the Wyndham Invitational field made commitments to play college golf in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They are listed below with their year of high school graduation and their ACC school. Those with a (v) made verbal commitments.
Will Baker, Clemson, 2022 (v) Carson Brewer, Florida State, 2023 (v)
Cooper Claycomb, 2022, Virginia (v) Josh Duangmanee, Virginia, 2022
Michael La Sasso, 2022, NC State Joseph Lenane, NC State, 2022
Rolex Junior First Team All-Americans: The 2022 field has four Rolex Junior All-Americans; Eric Lee from Irvine, Calif., was named first team while the golfers below were named second team in 2021:
Sihao Cong, Irvine, Calif. Ethan Gao, Alpharetta, Ga. Nicholas Prieto, Miami, Fla.
International Players: Ten of the 72 golfers in the Wyndham Invitational field represent six foreign countries. Those golfers are listed below with the country they represent and their current hometown if applicable:
Benjamin Cai, Davenport, Fla. (Taiwan)
Jeremy Chen, Taipei City, Taiwan
Aaron Martin del Campo, Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico
Eduardo Derbez Torres, Monterey, Mexico
Sebastian Gamboa, Merida, Mexico
Zing Luo, Katy, Texas (China)
Kristoffer Kuvaas, Houston (Norway)
Byungho Lee, Plano, Texas (South Korea)
Alex Long, Lakewood Ranch, Fla. (Canada)
Juan M. Martinez, Alvarado, Veracruz, Mexico
2021 Tournament Recap: Maxwell Ford from Peachtree Corners, Ga., won the 2021 AJGA Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist following in his brother’s footsteps. David Ford won the tournament in 2020. Maxwell posted 12 birdies and two eagles and finished at 7-under-par 273 to claim the Wyndham Invitational crystal trophy. After entering the final round with a single-stroke lead, he shot a 4-under-par 66 to finish five strokes clear of the field. He made four birdies on the back side including one at the 72nd hole. The 2020 and 2021 wins claimed by the Ford brothers marked the first time in AJGA history that two male siblings won the same event in back-to-back years. It was also the first time in 21 years that any set of siblings won the same event in back-to-back years. The last were Naree and Aree Song Wongluekiet at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Maxwell is now playing for the University of Georgia, and his brother, David, just finished his sophomore season at the University of North Carolina.
Previous Winners: The AJGA began playing in Greensboro in 1988; the Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist was created in 2002 by taking an existing AJGA event for both boys and girls and creating a boys-only Major event. The 2022 tournament will be the 21st Wyndham Invitational, but because Brian Harmon is a two-time champion, only 20 players are former champions. Previous winners are:
2002: Steve Han 2003: Brian Harman 2004: Brian Harman
2005: Daniel Woltman 2006: Andrew Yun 2007: Peter Uihlein
2008: Cameron Peck 2009: Justin Thomas 2010: Tanner Kesterston
2011: Billy Kennerly 2012: Matthew NeSmith 2013: Matt Gilchrest
2014: Austin Connelly 2015: Charles Huntzinger 2016: Eugene Hong
2017: Trent Phillips 2018: Karl Vilips 2019: Brett Roberts
2020: David Ford 2021: Maxwell Ford
Make the Cut: The 72-player Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist will utilize a cut following the third round of play. The top-48 golfers and ties will advance to the final round. Other AJGA events that utilize a cut make it after 36 holes, but this tournament uses a 54-hole cut so every player is guaranteed at least three rounds. Golfers will play in threesomes in the final round, and a tie after 72 holes will be decided by sudden-death playoff.
TaylorMade | adidas Golf Live Scoring and Tournament Results: The AJGA website, www.ajga.org/scoring provides live scoring during the AJGA Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist. In addition, after play is complete each day, full-field results, a tournament recap and pairings for the next round are posted on the website.
Tournament on Social Media: In addition to the tournament’s live scoring, additional tournament coverage is available through Twitter and Instagram. Follow the AJGA Wyndham Invitational on Twitter and Instagram via @AJGAGolf with the hashtag, #WyndhamInvitational
Wyndham Exemption History: For five years, Wyndham Invitational winners earned a sponsor’s exemption into the Wyndham Championship. However, when the PGA TOUR changed the structure of its season in 2013, that practice could no longer happen. The Wyndham Championship sets the field for the FedExCup Playoffs and ends the TOUR’s regular season. After the Wyndham, the top-125 players in points enter the playoffs while the next 75 play four tournaments with the top-75 finishers from the Web.com Tour in the Web.com Tour Finals. With PGA TOUR golfers trying to keep their cards, the Wyndham could no longer give an exemption to the winner of its AJGA tournament. The following five Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist winners took advantage of the exemption:
2008: Cameron Peck 2009: Justin Thomas 2010: Tanner Kesterson
2011: Billy Kennerly 2012: Matthew NeSmith
About the AJGA:
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls, ages 12-19) of more than 7,000 members from 50 states and 60 foreign countries. Through initiatives like the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant, a financial assistance program, and Leadership Links, a service-oriented platform that teaches juniors charitable-giving skills, the AJGA fosters the growth of golf’s next generation.
TaylorMade and adidas are the AJGA’s National Sponsors, supporting the AJGA for more than 25 years. TaylorMade has served as the Official Ball of the AJGA since 2016. adidas has been the Official Apparel and Footwear of the AJGA since 2017. Rolex, in its fourth decade of AJGA sponsorship, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 900 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Trevor Immelman, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer, Ariya Jutanugarn, Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Anna Nordqvist, Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson.
Wyndham Invitational Tournament Schedule:
Monday: Morning practice rounds (8 a.m.); Junior-Am Tournament at 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday: First-round tee times 7:30 a.m. – 11:43 a.m. off No. 1 tee
Wednesday: Second-round tee times 7:30 a.m. – 11:43 a.m. off No. 1 tee
Thursday: Third-round tee times 7:30 a.m. – 11:43 a.m. off No. 1 tee
Friday: Final-round tee times 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. off No. 1 and No. 10 tees
Awards Ceremony following play at approximately 2 p.m.
The 21st annual AJGA Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist is set for June 14-17, 2022 at Sedgefield Country Club. Admission is free. Practice rounds begin Monday morning, June 13, with the AJGA Junior-Am tournament Monday afternoon. Tournament play begins Tuesday, June 14, and concludes Friday, June 17. For additional information on the event, please visit www.ajga.org.
Contacts: Oscar Cartagena (primary contact) Rob Goodman, Wyndham Championship