MONTEBELLO, California (August 30, 2020) –Landon Lyons won his second straight APGA Tour playoff with a three-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to defeat Joe Hooks and capture the APGA Tour Los Angeles at Montebello Golf Course on Sunday. The Austin, Texas, native now residing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, won the APGA Tour TPC Deere Run on August 17 on the first extra hole. The former standout LSU golfer now has three title APGA titles in his four-year career.
The APGA Tour Los Angeles event also marked the first time that junior golf prodigy Amari Avery competed against adult men. The 16 year-old African American teenager from Riverside, California, who shattered several of Tiger Woods’ Southern California age-group records, shot a four over-par 75 to finish third among the eight amateurs in the tournament.
Lyons and Hooks both shot five-under 66s in the one-day, 18-hole event, one stroke better than Tommy Schaff of Ridgeland, South Carolina; Jarred Garcia of Jacksonville, Florida and Mark Victorian of League City, Texas. For Hooks, from Detroit, it was the best finish of his APGA Tour career. The field consisted of 40 players competing under social-distancing and health/safety guidelines in conjunction with regional authorities.
“Any time you can go through a round bogey-free, it is a special feeling,” stated Lyons, who had six birdies. “The work I’ve put in on the greens is starting to pay off. I applaud Joe Hooks on his round today and the way his game is trending.” Lyons will be among the favorites in the APGA Tour Championship beginning Tuesday.
Avery, who heads to Stanford University this week for the AJGA Girls Invitational, was thrilled with the experience. “It was really fun competing with some of the best players out here and putting my game to the test against theirs,” offered Avery, who finished 25th overall, birdieing the par 3 15th hole. “It was longer so I had to adjust my game. I’m learning to think my way around the golf course, so that has helped me.”
Players will now take a day off before the two-day, regular-season finale, the APGA Tour Championship Presented by Lexus. The season-long champion will be determined Tuesday and Wednesday, September 1-2, at Pacific Palms Resort in City of Industry, California. The APGA Tour Championship is the circuit’s biggest event of the year with $50,000 in prize money at stake.
The season concludes in October with the APGA Tour Salute to African American Golfers in Los Angeles. The double-tournament includes a seniors competition on Oct. 11-12 and the Lexus Cup Invitational on Oct. 11-13, featuring the top 26 players in the Lexus Cup Point Standings plus four amateurs.
The APGA Tour Presented by Lexus is a nonprofit organization with the mission of bringing greater diversity to the game of golf. Now in its 11th year, the tour consists of 10 events offering over $250,000 prize money.
