JOHNSON -- Xin "Cindy" Kou had no explanation for the tears she felt shortly after she stepped off the 18th green Thursday afternoon.
"I don't know why I was crying," the 14-year-old from Windermere, Fla., said after she won the KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational at Blessings Golf Club. "I just felt like crying, and I felt like all my hard work paid off."
Kou finished with a three-day total of 7-under 209 and won by two strokes over runner-up Lynn Lim of Gallatin, Tenn., but it all came down to the final hole. Kou had enjoyed a two-stroke lead with four holes to play, but Lim forced a tie with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17.
Lim, however, wound up with a three-putt on the 18th and finished with a bogey, giving Kou the opportunity for her first victory in an invitational tournament. Kou hit her second shot past the hole and left herself with a 24-foot downhill putt for birdie, which she sank for her first American Junior Golf Association victory.
"I wasn't really sure what she had done on the last hole," Kou said of Lim. "I told myself that all I needed to do was hit my putts.
"I really didn't expect to hit that putt. I normally don't hit 24-foot putts. I didn't realize it was going in until the last moment because it was a double-breaker."
Kou and Lim were the only two girls golfers to finish with below-par scores for the 54-hole tournament, now in its fourth year, and Kou's score tied for the lowest three-day total. Yoon Min Han of Bradenton, Fla., finished third at 218, two strokes ahead of Jiarui (Joyce) Jin of Encinitas, Calif., and Taylor Kehoe of Strathroy, Ontario.
In the boys division, first-day leader Kaungyu Chen of Shenzhen, China, shot a 1-under 71 Thursday and won the tournament by four strokes over second-place finisher Narayan Mohan of Charlotte, N.C. Chen had a three-day total of a 1-under 215 and was the only golf to finish the tournament below par.
"I've been waiting for this moment for so long," Chen said after he clinched his first AJGA victory. "It feels really good right now. There were a few mistakes out there that I still need to improve, but it was a really solid week."
At A Glance
KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational
Thursday at Blessings Golf Club, Johnson
Final results
BOYS
Kuangyu Chen^69-75-71 — 215
Narayan Mohan^70-76-73 — 219
Garrett Engle^73-70-77 — 220
Evan Woosley-Reed^74-79-71 — 224
Eric Doyle^79-72-74 — 225
Ray Xiong^80-68-77 — 225
Marshall Meisel^73-81-74 — 228
Jay Nimmo^80-74-74 — 228
Aidan Goldstein^76-75-79 — 230
Junyi Tang^81-75-74 — 230
Girls
Xin (Cindy) Kou^69-69-71 — 209
Lynn Lim^70-71-70 — 211
Yoon Min Han^72-72-74 — 218
Jiarui (Joyce) Jin^69-76-75 — 220
Taylor Kehoe^71-77-72 — 220
Kaleiya Romero^76-73-72 — 221
Ashely Shim^71-80-71 — 222
Jana Ni^73-75-78 — 226
Yu Wen Lu^75-73-78 — 226
Makenzie Niblett^73-76-78 — 227
Bohyun Park^72-81-74 — 227
Chen trailed Garrett Engle of Harrisburg, Pa., by one stroke before the final round started, but that quickly disappeared. Chen hit four birdies over his first eight holes and finished 3-under over the front nine, while Engle suffered back-to-back double bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3 and shot a 4-over 40 through nine holes.
Chen led Mohan by four strokes with nine holes to play, but that cushion was cut in half when Chen had a double bogey on No. 14. Mohan, however, had back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 and allowed Chen to regain his four-stroke cushion.
"I was pretty calm this time," Chen said. "I knew all I had to do was play my game and I should be fine.
"I was more confident with my shots over the front nine, but I got a little nervous on the back nine until I saw the scoreboard on the 18th green. I was pretty calm after that."
Engle shot a 77 Thursday and finished third with a three-day total of 220. Evan Woosley-Reed of Shelbyville, Tenn., shot 224 and finished fourth, one stroke better than Eric Doyle of San Diego.
Preps Basketball on 06/22/2018