Georgia's Grayson Wood wins White Sands Bahamas Invite, earns Tour exemption

Grayson Wood is getting an early Christmas present.

The junior at Georgia won the White Sands Bahamas Men's Invitational on Tuesday at the Ocean Club Golf Course. The event, an invitational featuring many of the top amateurs in the world, featured 36 holes of competition Monday before an 18-hole finish Tuesday, with Wood carding five birdies over his final 10 holes to take the title. He also overcame an early double bogey on the first hole.

"I tried to hit the hero shot on the first hole, and that's not how you win a golf tournament,“ Wood said. "But I persevered. I didn't look at the scoreboard and just let whatever happened happen. And it seemed like it was my time."

With the win, Wood earned an exemption into the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open or Myrtle Beach Classic, having a choice between the two events. Carson Bertagnole, a freshman at North Carolina who was one of four players to finish a shot behind Wood, earned the other exemption after winning a 4-for-1 playoff.

Wood finished at 8 under for the tournament and birdied three of his last four holes to move into first. Bertagnole, Tyler Kowack, Boston Bracken and Filip Jakubcik all finished a shot behind Wood.

During five starts this fall at Georgia, Wood's best finish was T-14 at the Hamptons Intercollegiate with three finishes of 45th or higher. Now, with his win in the Bahamas, perhaps it's a springboard into more consistency in the spring, and he has a PGA Tour start to look forward to.