A bogey-free final round propelled Matthew Nesmith of North Augusta to a three-shot victory Sunday in the Azalea Invitational golf tournament at the Country Club of Charleston.
Tied for the lead going into the final round, Nesmith never trailed, stringing together five birdies for his third consecutive 66. He finished the 72-hole event at 14-under-par 270, three shots ahead of Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., who closed the tournament with a 68.
Keith Mitchell of Chattanooga, Tenn., posted the day’s best round, a 6-under-par 65, to finish third at 274, while Brad Wilder of Fort Wright, Ky., and Michael Miller of Brewster, N.Y., tied for fourth at 275.
“It’s awesome to come out here and beat some of the really good players that I did,” said Nesmith, and 18-year-old senior at North Augusta High School and the country’s No. 7-ranked junior golfer who will be playing at South Carolina next season.
“It feels really, really, really good. It’s probably the best golf I’ve played. This is one of the most exciting wins of my life, just because of the way I played. I was making clutch putts down the stretch. Everything just felt right.”
Nesmith said his goal for the final round was to birdie all the par-5s and not make any bogeys. He managed to birdie both front-nine par-5s at the Country Club of Charleston to get to 11-under for the tournament when he made the turn. Back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 were bonuses. He did not birdie 15, the only par-5 on the back nine, but sank a 15-foot putt on the final hole for good measure.
“I knew if I didn’t make any mistakes they were going to have to come catch me,” said Nesmith. “I birdied 13 and that gave me a little cushion and made me a little more relaxed. I knew if I hit fairways and greens from there on in, I would be pretty tough to beat and that’s pretty much what I did.”
Liu, who at age 14 won the 2010 U.S. Junior to replace Tiger Woods as the youngest winner of that national title, managed to put some pressure on Nesmith, making birdies at 10 and 11 as well as the par-5 15th which got him within two shots. But Liu was unable to get any closer.
“Matt’s a great friend. We’ve played a lot of junior tournaments together so it was a blast out there,” Liu said. “We both played well. I’m happy to see him win, although I wish I could be in his shoes right now. He deserves it.
“He didn’t make any mistakes down the stretch. He’s a great player and hung in there.”
FINAL SCORES Matthew Nesmith, NAug 72-66-66-66—270
Jim Liu, Smithtown, N.Y. 65-72-68-68—273
Keith Mitchell, Chattanooga 70-69-70-65—274
Brad Wilder, Ky. 64-70-71-70—275
Michael Miller, N.Y. 68-69-69-69—275
Wyndham Clark, Colo. 71-72-68-65—276
Todd White, Spartanburg 70-68-71-68—277
Rob Simmons, Beaufort 64-71-71-71—277
Nicholas Reach, Pa. 73-64-72-69—278
Garland Green, , Va. 65-71-69-73—278
Michael Cromie, Cary, N.C. 71-66-67-74—278
Conor Richardson, Fla. 70-65-73-71—279
Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh 72-69-66-72—279
Sebastian Mexico City 71-70-73-67—281
Scott Harvey, G’boro, N.C. 72-68-72-70—282
Brian Carter, Athens, Ga. 69-73-72-69—283
Carson Young, Pendleton 73-70-71-69—283
John Engler, Augusta 75-67-70-71—283
Rhys Enoch, Tenn. 76-69-69-70—284
Nick Gilliam, Fla. 72-70-69-73—284
Spencer Cole, Greer 69-70-71-74—284
Sherrill Britt, West End, N.C. 73-73-69-70—285
Uly Grisette, Winston-Salem 69-66-73-77—285
Victor Wiggins Gastonia, N.C. 66-74-68-77—285
Paul Tucker, Waxhaw, N.C. 72-74-69-71—286
Cristobal Del Solar, Fla. 73-73-70-70—286
Manav Shah, Calif. 75-70-71-70—286
Connor Black, Texas 72-72-70-72—286
Joey Garber, Athens, Ga. 71-70-72-73—286
Sean Kelly, Bradenton, Fla. 72-71-74-69—286
James Fox, Dublin, Ireland 72-71-71-73—287
Jacobo Pastor, N. Charleston 74-68-74-71—287
Spencer Lawson, Raleigh 74-70-69-74—287
David Cooke, Ill. 70-73-72-73—288
Nick Biesecker, Va. 68-75-73-72—288
Walter Todd, Laurens 68-72-76-72—288
Jacob Burger, Orangeburg 77-71-68-73—289
Josh Branyon, Honea Path 69-75-72-73—289
Brian Westveer, Charlotte 72-75-71-72—290
Rick Cloninger, Fort Mill 73-73-72-72—290
Ryan Abbate, Weston, Fla. 71-78-70-71—290
Stephen Behr, Florence 72-73-71-75—291
Jeremy Grab, Daniel Island 73-74-71-73—291
Grayson Murray, Raleigh 76-70-71-75—292
Jack Larkin, Atlanta 75-74-71-72—292
Robert De Biase, Doral, Fla. 74-74-68-77—293
Kevin Marsh, Nev. 72-72-75-74—293
Jack Hall, Sea Island, Ga. 72-72-75-74—293
Greg Earnhardt, G’boro, N.C. 79-72-69-73—293
Brady Exber, Las Vegas 74-74-72-73—293
Bryan Newton, Gray Court 71-74-72-77—294
Charlie Danielson, Wis. 71-74-74-75—294
Austin Langdale, Townville 70-76-74-74—294
Mark Cusic, Md. 79-67-74-75—295
Michael Assey, Mt Pleasant 73-71-72-80—296
Grant Daugherty, Tenn. 72-75-70-80—297
Gettys Glaze, Charleston 73-74-73-77—297
Emilio Lorente, Mexico 75-72-73-77—297
James Yoon, Bradenton, Fla. 74-75-71-79—299
Christian Sease, Mt Pleasant 70-74-76-79—299
