Jayden Ford has finished a superb week at the Junior Open with a two-under par round to leap up the leaderboard and finish in third place at St Andrews today.
Playing as a curtain raiser to the 147th Open Championship Fords two back-nine birdies enabled him to finish on the podium and claim the third place trophy at the Eden Course.
He ended the three-round championship just two shots behind eventual champion Martin Vorster of South Africa who produced two magical rounds of 66 and 65 to earn a five-shot lead entering the final round and he needed every one of them after finishing the day four-over par.
"Im very happy with my week here in St Andrews and I really enjoyed playing this type of links golf and it was a great experience. It was pretty serial to be playing here and playing well too," said a satisfied Ford.
The Wellingtonian seemed to have a love-affair with the ninth hole which he birdied every day and played a big part in lifting his confidence entering the back nine where he produced his best golf this week.
Juliana hung finished her week in 59th place after a challenging three rounds in Scotland, but in a mixed field she showed great fight to make the cut and get the chance to enjoy another round at the home of golf.
The two Kiwis will now make their way to Carnoustie along with the whole Junior Open field to watch two other New Zealanders play in the worlds biggest event with Ryan Fox and Mike Hendry ready to go.
FULL LEADERBOARD
Previous Junior Open winners include reigning Masters champion, Patrick Reed, 2013 LPGA Rookie of the Year, Moriya Jutanugarn and Portugals Pedro Lencart Silva, who followed up his win at Kilmarnock (Barassie) in 2016 by lifting the 2017 Boys Amateur title. This made Silva the second golfer to win both events following Sergio Garcia, Junior Open winner in 1994.
Other leading golfers who have featured in the Junior Open include Champion Golfers of the Year Jordan Spieth (2017), Rory McIlroy (2014) and 2010 US Womens Open Champion, Paula Creamer.
- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Golf NZ
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