Steve Sugimoto of San Diego shot 6-under-par 65 in the final round to win the Agave Amateur by one stroke over Ryan Bishart of El Cajon at Shadow Hills Golf Club www.shadowhillsgolfclub.com in Indio.
The tournament is part of the Troon Saguaro Amateur Series, which also includes the Saguaro Amateur, the Sizzler Amateur, the Gobbler Amateur and the Grapevine Amateur.
Sugimoto, a junior at San Diego State out of Rancho Bernardo High who captured the 2016 Southern California Junior Amateur Championship, posted a score of 71-67-65—203, while Bishart finished second at 66-68-70—204 and Tyler Moore of Riverside was third at 69-65-71—205.
“I knew I had to shoot a low number,” said Sugimoto, who birdied five of the first seven holes in the final round. “Ryan and Tyler are both good players and I knew I had to get off to a good start.
“Got off to a good start, made a lot of putts and thankfully it was enough. It’s my first real amateur win. It’s been a while since I’ve won, so it feels great to be up there.”
Bishart missed an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would have forced a playoff.
Jonathan Curran of Scottsdale carded a score of at 68-68-72—208 to tie for fourth with Bryce Kvick of Carmichael, who wound up at 69-72-67—208, while Chris Wardrup of La Quinta shot 70-67-72—209 to tie for sixth with Max Sekulic of Canada, who finished at 73-70-66—209.
Connor Nolan of Corona shot 71-72-68—211 to tie for eighth with Clay Seeber of Newport Beach, who finished at 67-69-75—211, Scout McNealy of Portola Valley, who wound up at 70-72-69—211, and Colton Tanner of Park City, Utah, who came in at 70-69-72—211.
Defending champion Hunter Epsom of Long Beach finished in a tie for 17th at 70-79-64—213, and Shane Muldowney of Carlsbad, who last week won the Amateur.com San Diego Amateur, tied for 24th at 72-69-74—215.
For complete results, visit https://2019agaveamateur.golfgenius.com/pages/5879706102144207029
