A first-time champion of the links was crowned this weekend at the second annual Windsor Championship.
Dawson Armstrong emerged from a crowded leaderboard Sunday at Ambassador Golf Club to shoot a 66 in the final round, winning his first-ever tournament on the Mackenzie Tour, the Canadian arm of the PGA. He completed the four-match set at 20-under-par and took the first-place prize of $36,000.
Armstrong, 23, a native of Valdosta, Georgia and a graduate of Lipscomb University, shot a bogey-free round with five birdies, two of them in the first three holes alone. He rose above a field that had 26 competitors within a four-stroke lead going into the final round.
"I’ve never seen a leaderboard as jam-packed as that one," said Armstrong in a media release. "Come about No. 16 today, there were 12 guys within two shots of the lead. It was just jam-packed all day, and anyone could make a run at any given time."
Armstrong completed his round and watched the remaining golfers finish from the clubhouse. Six golfers, including Armstrong's playing partner, Australian Ryan Ruffels, ended up one stroke back at 19-under for the tournament. Armstrong knew it was an anything-goes situation, and he could not afford to get too comfortable.
"I called my fiancé [after finishing], and she said, ‘don’t get excited until you know for sure,'" said Armstrong. "I really kept an even keel and came out here and watched, there was nothing I could do but just accept whatever happened."
Armstrong's previous best finish was a tie for sixth place at last year's Golf BC Championship in Kelowna, BC.
Fellow Americans Patrick Fishburn, Anthony Maccaglia, Jonathan Garrick and Will Register, along with Paul Barjon of France, were the other second-place finishers, winning $11,116.67 apiece.
Eric McCardle, from Oak Harbor, Washington, led the tournament through the first two rounds, but shot consecutive 69s Saturday and Sunday and finished in a tie for 12th place.
Mark Anguiano, who won last year's championship, failed to make the cut this time around.