Go-For-Broke Style Pays Off For Persons

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Shoal Creek, Ala. – With his ball a quarter buried in the first cut of rough just off the 11th fairway, David Persons looked at his ball quizzically.  

David Persons, after seeing a 3-up lead slip, never broke. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

He sized up a wood. With about 240 yards to the hole, the green guarded by Shoal Creek, he was going for it, no doubt in his mind. After all, during the first round of stroke play, Persons had a similar go-for-broke opportunity. Mind you, he needed the assistance of the brick wall that shielded the water as his ball hit the top and stopped within 8 feet of the hole.

That was then. Persons looked down again Wednesday before his decision-making oscillated like a windsock.

He opted for an iron.

Need to lay up, he thought.

It proved to be the wrong play.

That’s because the par 5 taunted his better instinct. It made him pay for being conservative. Moments later he three-putted from 20 feet.

His fellow competitor, 15-year-old Matthew Ceravolo of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., fared better, ultimately birdieing the hole and wresting his first lead of the match.

“Oh, I wanted to [go for it] on 11,” said Persons, 17, of El Paso, Texas. “I wasn’t going to make the same mistake on 17.”

Skip ahead. The match all square through 16, Persons faced the same dilemma on the 536-yard, par-5 17th. Out on the horizon the elevated green presented another mirage. Only it wasn’t a delusion of sorts. Another brick wall. Shoal Creek again with, yep, about 240 yards to the hole.

Ceravolo, the top-ranked amateur out of the Sunshine State, had already laid up short of the green. There’d be no hesitation this time on Persons’ part. Even his father, John, realizing there was so much on the line, felt the adrenaline coarse through his veins.

“My husband, John, was standing there with his hands on his hat,” said mother, Susan. “ ‘He’s going for it!’”

Affirmative. Persons never rushed his swing. The ball released and trajectory befriended the ball. Over the water it climbed and onto the green as though a hand from up high dropped it from the heavens. The shot is the reason why Persons dispatched the favored Ceravolo, 2 up.

“The second I walked up there, I said, ‘I’m not laying up. If it goes in the water, whatever. I can still tie him,’” said Persons, playing in his first U.S. Junior Amateur.

Said an astonished Ceravolo: “The key shot was on 17. I mean, he hit it on the green from there.”

Ceravolo, try as he might, chipped out of the back rough to inches of the hole. Still, it wasn’t good enough with Persons staring at a 30-foot eagle putt.

On No. 18, the Florida State Golf Association Player of the Year felt discouraged. He had to be aggressive with an approach shot that offered huge risk. The flagstick was tucked far left, protected by a front bunker and a water hazard on the left. The ball landed in the bunker.

Persons knew he needed just a lazy short iron to the fat part of the green.

“He just has to control his adrenaline here,” said his mother. Persons’ ball came to rest 20 feet right of the flagstick before he drained the putt. However, it didn’t do justice to the seesaw battle that one might hope to see in a championship final.

“It was a crazy match,” said Ceravolo, who had erased a 3-up deficit at one point. “I tried to get back. I just couldn’t shake him.”

This is how close it was: Ceravolo missed just two fairways; Persons five. Persons hit 16 greens in regulation versus Ceravolo’s 15. Between them, they won seven holes with birdies. Heck, both shot 69s with the usual match-play concessions. It even featured minor controversy when Ceravolo’s caddie, his twin brother, Alec, received a warning from the walking official for an etiquette violation. On No. 11, he had openly complained that Persons and his caddie weren’t quiet when Ceravolo stood over a shot.

Persons downplayed any perceived psychological intimidation afterward.

“That’s what match play is about sometimes,” he said. “I told my caddie that we weren’t going to do that. I told him that we’re just going to win it on the course and not with words.”

That’s always been Persons’ persona. A straight-A student at Franklin High school, he started competing seriously at age 11. He tied for sixth in his first tournament. He had such an outgoing personality that his mother, after feeling secure, would drop him off at Santa Teresa Country Club at 8 a.m. some days and pick him up at 7 p.m.

One day while playing by himself when he was 12, a group of older guys asked him if he’d like to join them. He took them up on their offer and every week since he’s gotten together with them for friendly matches. One of the nine players in group decided to make the trip with his wife to watch him this week. On Wednesday morning, after peeling himself out of bed to complete nine holes, six of them called to provide inspiration.

“He’s always bargaining for strokes,” said Joe Upsal, 65, who admitted Persons was the best player in their group.

Persons is confident and doesn’t see why he can’t win this week. That aside, he also keeps golf in perspective. Last December one of his high school golf teammates, Matthew Hicks, died of leukemia. Hicks’ initials were sewn on the sleeve of their team shirts, which Persons has worn this week. He’ll don another one Thursday.

“He’ll always be with me no matter what,” said Persons. “He never gave up. He had the best attitude for someone with his disease.”

Persons, clearly inspired, demonstrated Wednesday that he also won’t give up. No matter what.

Ken Klavon is the USGA's Editor of New Media. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.