Morgan & Jin Go Wire-to-Wire for First FJT Wins
LAKE CITY, Fla. - This weekend, The Country Club at Lake City played host to the FJT Lake City Open (13-15). Despite weather-related suspensions on Saturday and Sunday, players were able to complete 36 holes of play at this challenging venue. At the end of the competition, Maxwell Morgan and Annie Jin sat atop their respective leaderboards to claim their first FJT victories.
Boys (13-15)
Maxwell Morgan took hold of the lead through the first 18 holes of the competition. The 2028 graduate from Ponte Vedra Beach held a four-shot lead after recording the low round of the tournament, an impressive score of 5-under par, 67. The 2028 graduate’s seven first-round birdies were two more than any other player in the field. Only two other players completed the first round under par. Jack Palmer, a 2028 graduate from Donalsonville, Georgia, and Yuma Nemoto, a 2028 graduate from Bradenton, each carded scores of 1-under par, 71.
On Sunday, Morgan would maintain his lead the entire way, finishing the second round at 2-over par, 74, en-route to a five-shot, wire-to-wire victory. After three career second-place finishes, including in a playoff in his last start, the 2028 graduate picked up his first victory on the Florida Junior Tour. This was also the first under-par finish for Morgan since moving up to the Boys (13-15) Division. Palmer would go on to record a Sunday score of 4-over par, 75, to finish in second place in just his second start on the Florida Junior Tour.
Girls (13-15)
At the end of the first round, Annie Jin held a one-shot lead and was the only player in the Girls Division not over-par. After completing the front-nine at two-over par, the 2026 graduate from Bradenton played the back-nine bogey-free at two-under par. Clara Ding, a 2029 graduate from White Rock, British Columbia, sat in second place just one-shot back heading into the final round after birdieing three of her final five holes.
Sunday’s final round turned into a back-and-forth battle between Jin and Ding. After nine holes, the Canadian native had taken a two-stroke lead thanks to birdies on the 13th, 16th, and 17th holes. Ding would extend that lead to four with a birdie on the 1st hole. However, the momentum would flip over the course of the next three holes as Jin recorded two birdies to Ding’s two bogeys, bringing the two competitors back to a tie. A birdie on the seventh hole by the Bradenton native would give Jin a one-shot lead that she did not relinquish over the final two holes. This was the 2026 graduate’s first start, and victory, on the Florida Junior Tour.
