It started with a smile and an autograph near the Island Green of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Two years later, 7-year-old PJ Isnardi of Jacksonville was playing golf and getting a putt read for him by three-time major champion Jordan Spieth.
PJ, a second-grader at Neptune Beach Elementary, met Spieth during a practice round at the 2022 Players Championship and caught Spieth’s eye. The 2015 Masters champion signed PJ’s hat and from then on, the youngster had a new favorite player.
“He likes a lot of the Tour players,” said his father Patrick Isnardi Sr. “But after that Jordan has been his favorite.”
Fast-forward to earlier this year. Club Corp, the management company that runs the elder Isnardi’s home course at Queen’s Harbour, announced a fundraiser for the Spieth Family Foundation, with the money going to pediatric cancer research.
The top 30 nationwide earned a trip to Dallas to meet Spieth and play golf at the Brookhaven Country Club in the “Crush It! Cup.”
PJ went to family and friends for pledges based on the number of holes he played. He and his father played at least a few holes per day for 45 days in a row.
PJ also raised $325 by selling balls he found in water hazards and the woods at Queens Harbour. The total of $3,660 was fourth-best among the contestants.
At Brookhaven, the 30 players were divided into 10 threesomes. They played a nine-hole scramble and Spieth met each group at the ninth tee. Spieth then followed PJ’s group to the ninth green and read a 15-foot par putt, which PJ made.
PJ had already made a natural birdie at the sixth hole. The group used his drive and second shot, and he made the putt for birdie.
Following the nine-hole round, the junior players attended an hour-long clinic with Spieth, his father and childhood coach Joey Anders.
First Coast golfers in national championships
Two familiar names from the First Coast are playing in the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur and a former University of North Florida men’s golf star is in the U.S. Men’s Mid-Amateur.
Tama Caldabaugh of Ponte Vedra Beach and Therese Quinn of Jacksonville are playing in the Women’s Senior Amateur at the Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle and former Ospreys’ star Danny Simmerman is in the Mid-Amateur, which is being contested at two Virginia courses.
Both tournaments start on Saturday.
Caldabaugh will tee off at 4:55 p.m. (EDT) from the 10th tee at Broadmoor on Saturday and at 12:25 p.m. off No. 1 on Sunday. Quinn starts at the first hole on Saturday at 4:25 p.m. and at No. 10 on Sunday at 11:55 a.m.
Simmerman, who now resides in San Antonio, gets his start on Saturday at the 10th tee of the Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va., at 7:37 a.m., then starts on Sunday at 12:27 p.m. at the first hole of the Independence Golf Club at Midlothian, Va.
In both tournaments, the top 64 in two rounds of stroke play advance to match play. The championship course for the Mid-Amateur is Kinloch.
Ryan Nicholson ties for second
Ryan Nicholson of Ponte Vedra Beach shot 3-under 141 at the Duran Golf Club in Viera and finished in a four-way tie for second in the Florida Junior Tour Duran 16-18 Open.
Nicholson (68-73) had a two-shot lead with three holes to play after a birdie at No. 15 but bogeyed his last three holes. Junzhe Wang of Bradenton, who played his last six holes at 1-under with no bogeys, shot 68 and finished 4-under 140.
Sofia Rivera of St. Augustine (143) finished solo fifth in the girls division, four shots behind winner Hannah Hill of Rockledge.
Jimmy Ellis reaches Crump Memorial finals
Jimmy Ellis of Atlantic Beach got to the championship match of the 99th annual Crump Memorial Tournament at Pine Valley in Pine Hill, N.J. before falling to Andrew Price 2 and 1.
Ellis, the Florida Amateur champion and the medalist in U.S. Amateur stroke play, defeated Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach, California in the semifinals.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jordan Spieth makes lasting impression on Queens Harbour junior golfer
