Baylor's Thornton Second in State Junior Amateur

Sand at No. 17 and a tree limb at 18 turned out to be a clear path to victory for Joe David.

David salvaged par with a 10- to 12-foot putt at No. 17 and a nifty up-and-down at 18 to scramble past Ryan Thornton for his second straight Tennessee Junior Amateur title Thursday at Johnson City Country Club.

David finished 8-under par for the tournament, but had to eek out a one-stroke victory thanks to Thornton's final-round 68. Thornton began the day three down, but actually took a two-stroke lead when he made a birdie and David made double bogey at No. 11.

David picked up a stroke with a birdie at No. 13 after getting within inches of an eagle, and drew even when Thornton bogeyed 14.

"He made a charge the whole round," David said. "He played great. We were both striking the ball really well and making putts here and there."

David, of Madison, made the putt that proved to be the dagger at No. 17. His tee shot there had found a bunker behind the green on the par 3, as did the ensuing one from Thornton, who proceeded to exit the sand in better shape.

However, David made his putt from perhaps 12 feet, which suddenly made co-leader Thornton's 7-footer look twice as long.

"It has (made putts look longer) for me before," David said. "I've been in that situation so I knew how he's feeling."

Thornton burned the right edge of the cup and settled for a bogey to go a stroke down. It was one of three Thornton putts that snuck past the right side of the hole down the stretch.

"That's golf," said Thornton, a rising senior at Chattanooga Baylor who won the McDonald's Invitational in Kingsport last year. "Some are going to go in and some are not, and it all evens out in the end."

David remained positive after the so-so shot from the sand that left him the longer putt.

"I'd been putting the ball, stroking the ball really well all day," David said. "And you can ask anybody, my putting's not (usually) the greatest. So I had a little confidence over that putt."

David, a long hitter whose ball speed has apparently been clocked at 176 mph, again flirted with disaster when his approach at 18 found a tree limb during its ascent. But he got a reasonably good carom which came to rest perhaps 10 yards shy of a mound guarding the elevated green.

"If I'd had a flat lie it'd been so much easier and I wouldn't have worried about (the approach)," David said. "But I had an uphill lie and I pushed it."

Thornton's hopes for a playoff escalated when he heard tree and ball butt heads. A lot of richochets would've probably produced a 19th hole.

"He could've had a tougher shot, but when I saw he was short of the green it gave me a little more hope than I originally had," said Thornton, who broke 70 all three rounds (69-69-68). "But I mean what can you do? He made a great up-and-down."

David plays at Goodpasture, which won the 2005 state title and finished runner-up in 2004 and last year.

"He's a great player," Thornton said. "If you shoot 68 and still lose you can't really be disappointed."

David still had to finesse a right-to-left 5-footer to seal his repeat performance.

"I made some putts when I needed to," he said. "That last one was a pretty tough put."

David said he can feel the effects of experience when he's on the big stage now.

"I might not have got that up-and-down two out of 10 times (in previous years)," he said.

Payne Denman finished three shots behind David in third place at 5-under. Brent Webb and Matt Emery tied for fourth at 1-over.

Jonesborough's Dane Voss carded his second straight 74 to finish in a sixth-place tie with Keith Mitchell at 2-over.

1. Joe David, Madison, TN, *70-65-70-205 -8
2. Ryan Thornton, Chattanooga, TN, *69-69-68-206 -7
3. Payne Denman, Riverwatch, TN, *72-66-70-208 -5
4. Brent Webb, Savannah, TN, *73-70-71-214 +1
4. Matt Emery, Murfreesboro, TN, *70-71-73-214 +1
6. Keith Mitchell, Chattanooga, TN, *70-72-73-215 +2
6. Dane Voss, Jonesborough, TN, *67-74-74-215 +2
8. Tyler Smith, Brentwood, TN, *71-71-74-216 +3
9. David Saldana, Clarksville, TN, *75-72-70-217 +4
10. Brandon Rodgers, Knoxville, TN, *71-75-72-218 +5
11. David Talley, Blountville, TN, *76-70-73-219 +6
12. Grant Milner, Knoxville, TN, *76-74-71-221 +8
12. Daniel Foster, Johnson City, TN, *74-75-72-221 +8
14. Davis Bunn, Knoxville, TN, *78-75-70-223 +10
14. Justin Harvey, Kingsport, TN, *72-76-75-223 +10
14. Hunter Green, Evensville, TN, *81-67-75-223 +10
17. Scott Wallace, Murfreesboro, TN, *73-75-76-224 +11
18. Paul Stagmaier, Signal Mountain, TN, *73-78-75-226 +13
18. Casey Flenniken, Knoxville, TN, *73-77-76-226 +13
20. Skip Jones, Murfreesboro, TN, *77-77-73-227 +14
20. Carlson Cox, Churchill, TN, *73-79-75-227 +14
20. Reed McNamara, Brentwood, TN, *76-74-77-227 +14
23. Jared Stanfield, Cordova, TN, *76-77-75-228 +15
23. Brett Patterson, McMinnville, TN, *74-78-76-228 +15
23. Zach Olsen, Cordova, TN, *76-81-71-228 +15
23. Ross Gilbert, Cookeville, TN, *76-75-77-228 +15
27. Mark Hickey, Knoxville, TN, *79-74-76-229 +16
27. Alex Ratliff, Kingsport, TN, *76-77-76-229 +16
27. Eric Kennedy, Powell, TN, *74-77-78-229 +16
27. Nick York, Kingsport, TN, *74-77-78-229 +16
31. Brett Barry, Jackson, TN, *75-78-77-230 +17
31. Caleb Roberson, Signal Mtn, TN, *77-78-75-230 +17
33. Dominic Warner, Hendersonville, TN, *75-77-79-231 +18
33. Patrick Thomas, Farragut, TN, *76-76-79-231 +18
35. Mason Griffin, Kingston, TN, *81-74-77-232 +19
35. Matt Smith, Rutledge, TN, *75-80-77-232 +19
35. Kody Alexander, Humboldt, TN, *75-82-75-232 +19
35. Jordan Jennings, Jefferson City, TN, *76-75-81-232 +19
35. Logan Hance, White Pine, TN, *80-77-75-232 +19
40. Jeremy Lawson, Hixson, TN, *79-76-78-233 +20
40. Steve Lee, Hendersonville, TN, *76-79-78-233 +20
40. Scott Metcalf, Jackson, TN, *75-80-78-233 +20
40. Patrick Clossin, Ooltewah, TN, *76-77-80-233 +20
44. Dustin Wilder, Brentwood, TN, *78-78-78-234 +21
44. Elliott Wickenden, Knoxville, TN, *79-78-77-234 +21
46. Cris Goddard, Nashville, TN, *79-77-79-235 +22
46. Richard A Powell Jr, Hixson, TN, *81-77-77-235 +22
46. Andrew Ramsey, Seymour, TN, *81-77-77-235 +22
49. Dustin Smith, Nashville, TN, *75-80-81-236 +23
49. Davis Cook, Knoxville, TN, *74-81-81-236 +23
49. Robert Raydo, Jasper, TN, *75-82-79-236 +23
52. Graham Sleigh, Clarksville, TN, *77-76-84-237 +24
52. Brandon Bingaman, Unicoi, TN, *77-80-80-237 +24
54. Will Petty, Dickson, TN, *78-79-82-239 +26
54. Tyler Greene, Sparta, TN, *78-82-79-239 +26
54. Michael Markiewicz, Knoxville, TN, *78-82-79-239 +26
57. Lucas Armstrong, Church Hill, TN, *80-78-82-240 +27
58. Matthew Love, Johnson City, TN, *79-80-85-244 +31
59. Kelly Booth, Knoxville, TN, *84-79-82-245 +32
59. Zach Zondlo, Knoxville, TN, *81-80-84-245 +32
61. Austin Garrett, Smithville, TN, *81-82-83-246 +33
61. Paul Vaughan, Springfield, TN, *81-87-78-246 +33
63. Mike Knolton, Memphis, TN, *82-78-88-248 +35
64. Jimmy Knight, Knoxville, TN, *80-87-83-250 +37
65. Tyler Clapp, Knoxville, TN, *82-83-86-251 +38
65. Corey Lemley, Nashville, TN, *83-83-85-251 +38
67. Nick Carden, Hixson, TN, *82-90-83-255 +42
68. Zachary Hester, Soddy Daisy, TN, *83-87-86-256 +43
68. Zach Briggs, Newport, TN, *90-81-85-256 +43
70. Taylor Hensley, Loudon, TN, *82-89-86-257 +44
71. Zach Madewell, Dayton, TN, *84-87-88-259 +46

DID NOT FINISH

WD. Andrew Glassell, Clarksville, TN, *80-0-0-80 +9
WD. Josh Bratcher, Germantown, TN, *