Arizona Stroke Play Championship champion Peter Kyo Won Koo

by Bill Huffman


Armed with a five-shot lead going into the final round of the Arizona Stroke Play Championship, Peter Kyo Won Koo knew that he could make history as the state’s youngest amateur winner ever.

Good thing the 15-year-old from Chandler also had the foresight to guard against the headiness of such a golden opportunity, because after just five holes at the TPC Champions Course, his big lead was gone with the wind.

“Before I started my round, I told myself, ‘Don’t think about that, being the youngest winner or whatever,’ ’’ said Koo, who is a freshman on the Hamilton High golf team. “And don’t think about the five-shot lead, either. “Just imagine you’re playing a one-day tournament and that everything is starting at even (par).’’

Obviously, Koo is wise beyond his years. How else do you explain blowing the five shots and then battling back in blustery conditions compounded by tough pin placements to win by two strokes over Alex McMahon, a teen-ager from Tucson? 

“It’s weird, but it’s also amazing,’’ observed Koo, who erased a standard held by the late Bob Goldwater (1926 Arizona Amateur) and Philip Francis (2005 Arizona Public Links), who were 16 when they won major championships sponsored by the Arizona Golf Association.

Koo did it with a gutsy, 4-over-par 74 that left him with a winning total of even par 280. Despite the four straight bogeys beginning at the second hole and a double bogey at the par-3 13th, Koo’s three birdies were good enough to best McMahon, 18, a University of Arizona-bound recruit whose 69 was the day’s best score.

Big hitter Camron Howell of Queen Creek finished third, four strokes back after a 73. David Lowe, an 18-year-old from Scottsdale who is headed to Arizona State, was fourth with a 71 that left him at five off the pace.

In a tie for sixth were Scottsdale’s Justin Hardin and Andrew Medley, who both carded 75s to finish six shots back. At one point, Medley, a former Arizona standout and touring pro, had a share of the final-round lead with Koo after birdies at the fourth and fifth holes.

Koo’s win marked the fifth year in a row that a player from Hamilton High has won this tournament, as Koo followed alums Andrew Yun (2007, 2009) and Chan Kim (2008, 2010).

Asked about keeping the streak alive, the cool-headed Koo just laughed.
 
“I never even knew when I came to Hamilton that they had won (the state high school championship) five years in a row,’’ he said. “So it’s all good, I guess.’’