THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s Noah Norton won his first major amateur tournament Tuesday, capturing a one-stroke victory at the Patriot All-America in Litchfield Park, Ariz., after carding a final-round 69.
The Yellow Jacket junior from Chico, Calif., No. 22 in the Scratch Players Amateur Ranking and No. 85 in the World Amateur Golf ranking, finished with a 7-under-par score of 203 over 54 holes at Wigwam Golf Club, posting rounds of 70-65-68. He finished one shot ahead of a trio of top collegiate golfers including Mason Overstreet of Arkansas, Jackson Suber of Mississippi and Sam Choi of New Mexico.
After beginning Tuesday’s final round in a three-way tie for the 36-hole lead, Norton made his move on the back nine with three birdies in a four-hole stretch from 10 through 13. He parred the last five holes and secured the victory when Choi made bogey at 18.
It was the culmination of a strong 2019 for Norton, who made the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team for the second time in the spring, then qualified for the U.S. Open in Pebble Beach, Calif., reached the finals of the North & South Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C., and reached match play in the U.S. Amateur, also at Pinehurst.