Drew Czuchry didn't realize a short par putt on the final hole had won him the Charles Howell III Junior Championship.
It took some 15 minutes for his elation to escape, when he stepped out of a television interview, grabbed a victory Sprite and grinned.
"I mean I was playing good," he practically hollered at a friend.
Crucial pars on the final two holes helped Czuchry hold on for a one-shot victory Thursday in the three-round event at West Lake Country Club.
He shot even-par 72 to finish at 3-under-par 213, one shot better than Max Van Dresser and Lakeside senior Kelby Burton, who fired one of the craziest 71s you will ever see.
Anna Kim, of Chandler, Ariz., closed a wire-to-wire win in the girls division with a final-round 76 to finish five shots ahead of a group that included Augusta's Taylor Ramsey.
Czuchry, a home-schooled 17-year-old from Auburn, Ga., stuck a 6-iron to the middle of the green on the 17th hole, his most critical shot. The 165-yard par-3 with its front-right pin had given the final groups fits.
Consider: Drew Aimone was tied for the lead when his tee shot splashed into the water for double bogey. Burton lost his first shot right, then nearly chipped in from under a tree. He made a wild par. Czuchry's playing partner, Robert Jacobson, entered the 17th tied for the lead, but made bogey from nearly the same spot as Burton.
Czuchry saved par with a 5-footer after he left his first putt short. He laid up on the 514-yard, par-5 18th, wedged well above the hole and two-putted. He said he thought someone in an earlier group would have posted a better score.
"I hit the ball well all week," he said. "This is all new to me."
Burton absorbed post-round compliments from family and friends with an amused look on his face.
"I learned a lot," he said, seeking to apply context on a round that included a triple bogey, an eagle, a self-policed penalty stroke and two absurdly difficult scrambling pars on back-nine par-3s.
Burton, at the time one behind the leaders, triple-bogeyed the par-5 ninth, then called a penalty shot on himself on No. 10 when a practice waggle accidently moved the ball 2 inches. He was 1-over through 10, six shots back. But a 40-foot eagle putt on No. 11 -- he had found the edge of the green with a 3-wood -- moved him back under par. He would finish one back when his 5-foot birdie putt on 18 horseshoed around the hole before falling out.
"I'm going to use this as a positive," he said.
"I'm pretty happy with the way I played."
Jerry Ruiz, of Puebla, Mexico, who started the day with a one-stroke lead, shot 78 and finished tied for 14th place.
Lakeside freshman Emmanuel Kountakis was the next closest area finisher at even-par 216, one ahead of recent Westside graduate Dykes Harbin. The South Carolina-bound golfer was 6-under for his round at one point before playing the last five holes in 5-over.
Reach Matt Middleton at (706) 823-3425 or matt.middleton@augustachronicle.com.
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