US Junior Amateur Round of 64 – Watts vs Jones

US Junior Amateur Round of 64 – Watts v Jones

I spent Wednesday afternoon of the Junior Amateur following the match between Tyler Watts and Ieuan Jones (in photo above).

Jones, 18, is an Ann Arbor resident, and the last remaining Michigan player in the tournament. He won the 2022 Michigan D1 individual state championship as a sophomore by six strokes. In 2021, he helped Ann Arbor Skyline win the team championship.

Tyler Watts tees off.

Watts, of Huntsville, Alabama, is a member of the USGA’s US National Junior Team. He is ranked 7th in the AJGA rankings. At age 15 in 2023, he won the Alabama State Amateur Championship, becoming the youngest to do so.

Watts finished the stroke play portion of the Junior Amateur at -5, one behind medalist Blades brown.

On the other hand, Jones finished in a t56 at +4. He participated in a 13-for-9 playoff to get into match play starting at 7 am before the round of 64.

Jones, who has been commuting from his home in Ann Arbor said that he got up at 4 am to arrive at the playoffs on time.

“It was a long day,” he said after the match, “especially considering I didn’t get off the course until 8:30 yesterday.”

Jones went 1-up on Watts on the second, with a nice up and down from just off the green right. Watts’ chance to match slid past the hole.

Both players parred the third and fourth.

On the fifth, Jones’ tee shot found a fairway bunker on the left. He managed to salvage a par. Watts tee shot was well ahead of Jones’ in the fairway, and a crisp second shot set up a birdie putt.

All square.

Both players parred the sixth.

On the seventh, Jones’ drive went wide left. His second found the ditch left of the green. His third shot advanced — right back into the ditch. He found the green on his fourth and two putted for a six.

Watts had a routine par, and went 1-up.

Both players parred the eighth and ninth.

On the tenth, Watts left his approach short and right of the green, narrowly missing a greenside bunker. He had nice pitch past the hole, and a long putt back for a four.

Jones was on the green in two, but then three putted.

Watts 2-Up.

On eleven, Watts’ approach went long and right. On that two-tiered green, he executed a brilliant flop, which trickled down from the upper tier toward the flag on the lower. One putt later and he carded a four.

Jones’ second hit the front of the green, and rolled a hundred yards back down the green. He pitched back up and made a courageous putt to maintain the standing.

On the par three thirteenth, both players found the green, but Jones was on the lower tier. His putt up was well short, and his next slid by the hole. In for a four.

Watts’ tee shot was on the upper back tier. His first putt was short. The next didn’t miss.

Watts 3-Up

Both parred the fourteenth.

On fifteen, both were in the fairway of the dogleg, short of the fairway bunkers. Jones’ approach was within ten feet. Watts was off the back of the green.

A deft chip got Watts close, but he missed his putt. Jones just missed on his first putt, but was close enough for a concession. It was a gutsy hole to extend the match.

Watts 2-Up

On the sixteenth, Jones teed off first with an iron, intending to lay up in front of the pond. It was the wrong club, though and the ball found water.

Watts drove to the fairway on the opposite side of the pond.

Jones’ next shot hit the left side fo the green, but rolled off and back to the pond’s edge.

Watts stuck his approach shot close, looking at a makeable birdie putt.

Jones conceded the hole.

Match over, Tyler Watts winning 3 and 2.

Afterwards, Jones said that he hit a six iron off the sixteenth tee, and it was “obviously the wrong club.”

“I felt like I had my chances in the match for sure,” Jones said. “I feel like I hit the ball great all week, apart from just a few loose shots. It’s just an important step going forward for me.”

Going forward for Ieuan Jones means heading to Harvard in the fall, where he will play for Ivy League school’s golf team.

Congratulations to Ieuan Jones for a solid week, and best wishes for the future.