Amaral-Rinker team wins PGA Senior Junior Championship with late par

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Carrying a two-shot lead into the difficult finishing holes of the 56th PGA Senior-Junior Championship presented by Premier Golf and GOLF ADVISOR on Friday, the team of Lee Rinker of Jupiter, Florida, and Colin Amaral of Port St. Lucie, thought they had breathing room. 

 

Yet, playing in the same group as Defending Champions JC Anderson of O'Fallon, Missouri and Rod Perry of Port Orange, Florida, Rinker was forced to make a seven-foot, downhill putt for par on No. 18 to win the Championship by one stroke.

 

The Rinker-Amaral team shot 28-under par (64-66-64-65—280) with only two bogeys for the entire Championship, as they captured the $10,000 team prize. Their 7-under-par 65 held off Anderson-Perry's final-round 64 on the Wanamaker Course at PGA Golf Club.

 

Despite making eagle on No. 16, Rinker and Amaral's comfort zone would not last long. Anderson made a clutch birdie on the same hole to keep him and playing partner Perry within sight of the lead. 

 

After trading pars on No. 17, Anderson made a fist-pumping birdie from 20 feet behind the hole to force Rinker to make his putt.

 

Rinker, who had missed a 20-foot birdie chance of his own moments before, sealed the victory with a putt that traced Anderson's line.

 

"I really thought I goosed it," Rinker, the PGA Director of Golf at Emerald Dunes Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, said of the winning putt. "If it goes another six inches, the ball would have rolled another 20 or 30 feet."

 

Rinker-Amaral held the lead after the second and third rounds, while Anderson-Perry were the opening-round leaders. Tim Weinhart of Alpharetta, Georgia, and James Mason of Dillard, Georgia, shot 65 to finish in third place, two strokes back.

 

The week also served as an opportunity for Rinker to hone his game heading into two upcoming qualifying events for the Champions Tour.

 

"I always enjoy playing with Lee," said Amaral, a wintertime Florida resident who is a PGA Professional at Metropolis Country Club in White Plains, New York. "He is always around the hole, and he doesn't put a lot of pressure on his playing partner."

 

Picture-perfect Florida weather led to low scores throughout the day, as only one team of the 42 that made the cut was over par on Friday. A total of 28 teams shot in the 60s.

 

"This is a very fun event," added Rinker. "Thanks to the Senior-Junior format, you get to see people you haven't seen in awhile." 

 

The PGA Senior-Junior Championship presented by Premier Golf and GOLF ADVISOR featured 155 teams of PGA Professionals, with Seniors 50 and over, and Juniors 49 and younger. Teams rotated among the three courses at PGA Golf Club – Wanamaker, Ryder and Dye – during the 72-hole Championship. 

 

The total purse was $100,000.

 

The PGA Winter Championships continue on Feb. 3, with both the PGA Stroke Play Championship and PGA Women's Stroke Play Championship contested at PGA Golf Club.