Gavin Hall Celebrates 17th Birthday with Win at the Jr. PLAYERS at TPC Sawgrass

Golf writer Andy Reistetter lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, the Golf Capital of the World. It is home of the PGA TOUR, TPC Sawgrass and THE PLAYERS. Nearby is the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine. But wait, there is more than just professional golf here. Whether the collegiate Hyatt Invitation at Sawgrass CC or this week's Jr. PLAYERS at TPC Sawgrass, all levels of golf call this part of the world home. Relive this week's impressive victory by Gavin Hall in the 2011 Jr. PLAYERS at TPC Sawgrass.

Go out and shoot a 64 on your 17th birthday.

Enjoy a family dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House to celebrate.

The next day, play strong down the stretch and win the Jr. PLAYERS Championship.

Exciting and priceless, but this is no MasterCard commercial.

Perhaps the world should get to know the newly minted Gavin Hall.

Hello, Gavin Hall.

The tall, smiling left-hander has an unmistakable presence like that of Phil Mickelson.

But unlike Mickelson, he was steady and conservative down the stretch on the renowned back nine of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

Hall started the day with a three-stroke lead over Jim Liu after a Saturday 64 on the "other" Pete Dye gem, the Valley Course.

The next nearest competitor was a further three strokes back of Liu.

Like the PLAYERS, the junior version has one of the strongest, if not the strongest field in all of junior golf. It is made up 78 players, including the top 60 from the United States and the top 18 from around the world.

What looked like a battle of New Yorkers—Hall from upstate Pittsford near Rochester, Liu from Smithtown on Long Island—turned into just that.

It could have been Choi vs. Toms, Garcia vs. Goydos or "Phil the Thrill" vs. O'Hair in the professional PLAYERS.

After failing to get up and down from short of the green on the 9^th hole with a putter in his hand, Hall held the slimmest of leads over Lui at the turn, with just one stroke separating the two players.

The battle with Lui was fierce and magnified with two-stroke swings on Nos. 11, 13 and 17.

After a pair of pars on No. 10, Liu went for the green on the par-5 11^th. His second shot found water right, missing the safety of the bulkhead green complex by only inches.

Hall reached the green safely in two and two-putted for a birdie, while Liu made a testy six-footer for bogey.

After more pars on No. 12, Liu made a 12-footer for a deuce on the par-3 13^th, while Hall played conservatively away from the water and failed to get up-and-down and walked away with a bogey.

Hall's one-stroke lead evaporated on the difficult 14^th. Liu hit a strong iron shot from the right rough and made a two-putt par.  Hall missed the green right from the fairway and failed to get up-and-down from one of Dye's treacherous bunkers.

Liu bogeyed the 15^th after being blocked by a tree from the right fairway bunker. This put him back to one stroke behind as he entered TPC Sawgrass' three water-laden closing holes, known as "the Water Closet," at least to this author.

Liu's drive was only feet from the fairway with what looked like a playable lie. It turned out that it wasn't all that playable. His layup iron shot squirted right a bit and found the water after hitting ground first.

If players don't flush their iron shots coming home on the Stadium Course, the Water Closet will surely flush them down the leader board.

Guarding his lead, Hall once again played conservatively with his second shot left of the green. Though the chip was a tricky one, he drained a 15-footer for birdie to increase his lead to four strokes over Liu,  who made double bogey on the always pivotal 15th.

With the traditional Sunday hole location on the right of the famous 17^th island green, the 17-year-old Hall played cautiously to the middle of the green.

While Hall was comfortably ahead of Lui, Jonathon Garrick playing two groups ahead had eagled the 16^th and was on his way to closing out an impressive four-under 68 and posting a two-under total in the clubhouse.

Hall's lag putt on the 17^th green was difficult. It was flat at first with a severe downhill slope at the end. His first putt was skillfully struck, but stopped five feet short and left a difficult par putt.

Hall made the putt and went to the 18^th tee knowing he had a two-stroke lead with one to play.

He again bailed out conservatively into the right rough, avoiding an untimely flush in the Water Closet.

His iron shot cleared the trees and safely landed on the green.

Having three putts to win, he took them all to edge Garrick by a stroke at the end of a draining experience in his first Jr. PLAYERS Championship.

Hall, in this the fifth edition of the Jr. PLAYERS, joins Morgan Hoffman (2007, now a senior at Oklahoma State and ranked No. 12 in Golfweek Sagarin Rankings), Evan Beck (2008, a junior at Wake Forest and ranked No. 31), Bobby Wyatt (2009, a sophomore at Alabama and ranked No. 37), and Michael Johnson (freshman at La Salle, named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week after being a medalist in team's spring opener) as champions of the prestigious Jr. PLAYERS.

Entering his junior year at Pittsford-Mendon High School, Hall will be the first to have the opportunity to defend his Jr. PLAYERS title.

Hall's win also comes with an invitation to play on the Nationwide Tour in the Winn-Dixie Open on the Valley Course in October, where he shot a 64 on Saturday to set up his breakthrough victory on the Stadium Course.

Hello, Gavin Hall, welcome to the world of golf, TPC Sawgrass-style!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer as well as a spotter, research and broadcast assistant for The Golf Channel, NBC and CBS Sports. He spends time on all four major American golf tours—the PGA TOUR, Champions, Nationwide and LPGA Tours.

Reistetter resides within two miles of the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.

A lifetime golfer, Andy enjoys volunteering at the World Golf Hall of Fame and THE PLAYERS while pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website at www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by emailing him at [e-mail].