Gordon defeated No. 14 seed Jackson McLaughlin 2&1 on Sept. 10 to be crowned the champion of a tournament that began on July 18.
By Chris Werner
USGA P.J. Boatwright Jr. Intern
September 12, 2023
At the conclusion of what could go down as one of the longest golf tournaments in history, Will Gordon of Hot Springs was holding a trophy on the 17th green at Eagle Hill Golf and Athletic Club.
On Sept. 10, the ASGA Junior Match Play Boys Championship — an event that began on July 18 — concluded as Gordon defeated fellow Arkansas Razorback commit Jackson McLaughlin 2&1 to capture his first ASGA Major.
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Gordon, a junior at Lakeside High School, claimed the first seed in the match-play bracket when he fired a 9-under 63 in qualifying, besting the field by four shots. Then he got by 64th seed Jackson Wolfe 6&5 and 32nd seed Jack Denery 7&5 on July 19.
In the round of 16 and quarterfinals the next day, Gordon beat 17th seed Zachary Gardner 1 UP and 25th seed Win Gibson 6&4, respectively.
On July 21, Gordon won the first hole of his semifinal matchup with 13th seed Gabe Haslauer and play was suspended due to inclement weather before the duo began the second hole. The other semifinal — between McLaughlin and 7th seed Logan Mayo — never got off the first tee box.
Then the waiting game began.
Between the schedules of the ASGA, Eagle Hill, Mayo, McLaughlin, Haslauer, and Gordon, dates didn’t line up where everyone was available, so play resumed on Sept. 9 with the semifinal between Gordon and Haslauer. McLaughlin got through to the finals after Mayo’s schedule didn’t allow him to play.
Gordon defeated Haslauer 8&6 in Saturday’s semifinal, losing the second hole — the first of the day — to lose his 1 UP lead, but then turning up the heat.
The newest Razorback commit won 8 of the next 10 holes to head to the finals. He shot 5-under-par over that stretch.
Gordon started slow again on Sunday, surrendering the first hole to McLaughlin after he found the water off the tee and the bushes deep of the green with his approach.
But just like the day prior, Gordon surged ahead. He won the next three holes, and five of the next six. He made the turn with 3 birdies on his card and a 4 UP advantage.
But with 2021 and 2022 Junior Match Play Girls Champion and fellow future Razorback Anna Kate Nichols on the bag, McLaughlin fought back on the back nine.
He won the 10th hole with a birdie, 11th with an eagle chip in, and 12th with another birdie to draw to 1 down with five to play.
RELIVE THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT WITH THE JUNIOR MATCH PLAY HIGHLIGHT ON OUR INSTAGRAM PAGE
Gordon won the 13th with a par and escaped with a 2&1 victory after the two players halved the remaining holes.
“Today I felt like I relied a lot on ball striking,” Gordon said while holding the Dr. Fred Gordy Trophy. “My putting was not as good as it was yesterday, I missed a lot of short putts. I kind of let up my lead because I missed a lot of short putts, but I just decided, if I want to make putts I going to have to start hitting it closer, so that's what I started to do. Putts didn't really fall but it was good enough to get it done.”
Paxton Lane — who was the No. 2 seed in the bracket and got beat in the round of 64 after firing a 67 in qualifying — caddied for Gordon in both the semifinals and finals.
Lane, who helped Gordon read nearly every putt of any real length on Saturday and Sunday, echoed Gordon’s sentiment.
“It means a lot [to win] because I didn't have the chance to get to play in it,” Lane said.”But to get to caddie was awesome. Like he said, putting wasn’t really there today, but his ball striking was there and he kept his head and didn't let the pressure get to him. Jackson played awesome, but Will just held it together.”
“To get this done with Paxton on the bag, there's no greater feat,” Gordon added. Paxton and my brother are the two best caddies I know, and I'm so thankful for, him to come over the last few days and be able to carry the bag for me and loop it together was awesome.”
Although Gordon got the better of McLaughlin in the final match, the victor had nothing but good things to say about the runner-up and the chance to team up with him in Fayetteville.
“It's awesome, I'm excited,” Gordon said. “He's a great friend of mine, a great competitor that I've been friends with for so long, so being able to do this the next six years of my life with him at Arkansas and one more year of junior golf for him, I'm excited. He's a great competitor, he pushes me to get better, I push him to get better. So I'm looking forward to looking forward to being teammates.”
Gordon, who had never reached the quarterfinals of the Junior Match Play before this year, has two more seasons of junior golf before he becomes a Hog.
