Ko Prevails at 91st Public Links Championship
KENILWORTH, N.J. –– Jayden Ko out of Darlington Golf Course outlasted the rain and bested the field by three strokes following the 36-hole championship for the 91st Public Links Championship at Galloping Hill Golf Course. Ko finished with an even-par (71-69, 140) on Wednesday afternoon.
“I didn't expect it at all, to be honest,” Ko said after the championship round. “I’m just very happy and very proud of myself. I fought through the rain, and all the conditions. It honestly came out of nowhere, so I’m just happy it all came together.”
With a 1-over par 71, Ko, Eric Salizzoni, Isaiah Williams, and Paul Giovannoli all held a share for the lead after the first 18 holes.
In his first round, Ko fired in three birdies to get to 1-over par. From there, Ko pulled away from the competition in his afternoon round, turning in the only under-par card for the day to get to even-par for the win.
In his opening stretch in the second round, Ko made four consecutive pars, but a bogey on No. 5 rattled his round for a moment.
“I made a bogey on hole 5, and I knew I had a par five coming up the next hole, so I wanted to get one back there,” Ko recalled. “I made birdie [on hole 6] which was big.”
“I just made a few really good putts and some good shots that set me up for birdie for the next few holes,” Ko recalled.
A key par on No. 9, the uphill 369-yard par 4, steadied Ko’s lead heading into the turn.
“Down the stretch I made a couple of bogeys, but I made par on a couple of the toughest holes,” Ko said. “I always focused on current shot.”
From there, Ko weathered the storm through his back nine and carded in two more birdies and two off-setting bogeys on the way to the championship. With a final string of four consecutive pars on holes 14,15,16 and 17, Ko pushed his way through the finish at Galloping Hill, which played 6,442-yards on Wednesday.
“I think hitting fairways was especially important,” Ko said. “Making those clutch par saves was really good and trying to take those big numbers off of the scorecard was important.”
Ko, a junior at Duke University, played alongside his father, who caddied the 36-hole tournament with him.
“It was awesome,” Ko remarked. “He’s been my number one supporter since day one, so having him out here was cool. I could sense him getting nervous down the stretch for me, so I had to tell him to relax a little bit, but it was awesome. I’m really blessed.”
The win marks Ko’s first for New Jersey Golf competitions.
“I'm a public golfer. I love playing public golf courses,” Ko said . “It's really cool to win this and I look forward to hopefully playing a lot more in the future.”
In a share for second place, Williams and Eli Kaufman (72-71,143) finished at 3-over par. \
Top-three finishers automatically qualify for the 2026 New Jersey Amateur Championship next July.
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