Bradenton's Tanco Named Rolex Junior Player of the Year

Jordan Spieth, 16, of Dallas, and Victoria Tanco, 15, of Bradenton, were named the Rolex Junior Players of the Year by the American Junior Golf Association. By earning Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors for the second straight year, Tanco has become the fourth girl in the AJGA's 32-year history to win the award back-to-back.

Introduced by the AJGA in 1978, the Rolex Junior Player of the Year award recognizes one boy and one girl who had the most outstanding year in junior golf events at the national level. Past recipients have gone on to become some of the most esteemed players on the PGA and LPGA Tours, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, Scott Verplank, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.

Both Spieth and Tanco ended the season ranked No. 1 in the Polo Golf Rankings, helping them earn this distinction and secure spots on their respective Rolex Junior All-America First Teams.
  
Tanco earned her second Rolex Junior Player of the Year crown behind the strength of three victories and five other top 10 finishes in national tournaments. Wins at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and Mizuno Junior at Innisbrook highlighted a slate that also included a runner-up finish at The PING Invitational. Tanco joins Beth Bauer (1997-98), Kellee Booth (1992-93), and Vicki Goetze (1988-90) as the only girls that have won consecutive Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors.
    
The pair will be honored Nov. 22 during the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens. The awards ceremony, dubbed "The Greatest Night in Junior Golf," will also trumpet the achievements of the rest of golf's next generation by means of the Rolex Junior All-America Teams, HP Scholastic Junior All-America Teams and Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award.

Since moving to America from Buenos Aires, Argentina, two years ago, Tanco has amassed six wins and 14 top 10 finishes in 19 tournaments. This record includes nine top 10s and three victories during the 2009 season, which helped her defend her Rolex Junior Player of the Year crown.

Tanco started 2009 where she left off, as she posted two victories before the summer season began. At the Orange Bowl International Junior, Tanco posted a 4-under-par 276 total and outlasted Alexis Thompson in a five-hole playoff for the tournament title. In April, she carded an even-par 210 total at the Mizuno Junior at Innisbrook and notched her third career AJGA victory.
  
Her third win of the season was her crowning achievement, as she led wire-to-wire at the prestigious Rolex Tournament of Champions at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Her 13-under-par total was nine shots clear of the field and broke the tournament scoring record by seven shots. It was her third victory in 11 career AJGA Invitationals.

Since this victory, she played for the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur, advanced to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Girls' Junior and finished second at the season-ending PING Invitational. Tanco continues to be a dominant force in American junior golf, and, at the age of 15, she still has three years remaining in her junior golf career.

Emiliano Grillo of Bradenton was named to the Rolex first team. Ironically, Ben An of Bradenton, who the U.S. Amateur, only was given honorable mention consideration.

Jessica Korda of  Bradenton joined Tanco on the girls first team. Bradenton's Karen Chung was on the second team.