Fleming Island's Tyler Mawhinney hits 'greatest shot of my life' to win Canadian Amateur

Tyler Mawhinney survived a wild final round on Thursday at the Riverside Golf Club in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and by hitting what he called the best shot in his 16 years completed a wire-to-wire victory in the 119th Canadian Amateur Championship. 

The Fleming Island High School junior, who was the individual Class 3A state champion last fall to lead the Golden Eagles to the team title, flagged an 8-iron from 178 yards out at the par-3 17th hole and tapped in to highlight a 69 that left him one shot clear of defending champion Ashton McCulloch of Kingston, Ontario at 15-under-par 273. 

"Kind of sinking in, but proud I could finish it off after some great golf," Mawhinney said during his post-round news conference. 

Mawhinney, the Times-Union's 2023 boys high school Player of the Year and the Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Golf, won the Earl Gray Cup for capturing a national amateur championship that is only five years younger than next week's U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minn. — where Mawhinney earned a spot in the field.

Mawhinney qualified for the Canadian Amateur through an exemption granted to members of the United States Golf Association national junior team.

Mawhinney rallied after triple 

Mawhinney began the day with a one-shot lead and looked on the verge of staging a rout when he birdied his first hole and eagled his second. 

But he made a triple-bogey 7 at the par-4 third hole and it was game on, with three other players in addition to Mawhinney and McCulloch holding a piece of the lead during the final round. 

After his triple bogey, Mawhinney fell one shot behind McCulloch. He regained the lead with a birdie at No. 8, lost it again with a bogey at No. 10, then birdied No. 12 to go back in front. 

Yet another bogey one hole later dropped Mawhinney into a tie for the lead with Rylan Shim of Centreville, Va., 

Mawhinney then hit 3-wood off the tee at the 16th hole and faced a 205-yard second shot. He reached the green and two-putted for birdie for another one-shot lead. 

‘The greatest shot I’ve ever hit’ 

Then came his tee shot at the par-3 17th hole. He had 178 yards to the flag and adjusted for a downhill, downwind shot. He took aim with an 8-iron. 

The result? 

"The greatest shot I’ve ever hit in my life,” said a player who made a hole-in-one in the first round of the 3A state tournament.

The ball never left the flag and it dropped 12 inches from the hole. Mawhinney tapped in for birdie and parred the last to weather McCulloch's closing birdie and still win. McCulloch finished with a 69. 

Shim (69) and Braxton Kuntz (71) tied for third at 12-under. 

Mawhinney gets a spot in PGA Tour’s Canada event 

Mawhinney gets a few perks for winning in addition to a spot in the U.S. Amateur. He is exempt to the PGA Tour's RBC Canadian Open at the TPC Toronto and is exempt from local qualifying for the 2025 U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur. 

For now the Junior Players Championship on Labor Day weekend and his junior year at Fleming Island await.

"We couldn't be prouder of Tyler," said Eagles coach Bruce Cloud. ''He's the Canadian Amateur champion. That's really special."