McCann & Taylor win First-Ever Virtual Interclub Championship
WEST NYACK, N.Y. (December 9, 2023) – James McCann and amateur Anthony Taylor of Spook Rock closed birdie-eagle on their final two holes to claim the first-ever MGA Virtual Interclub Championship Powered by Golfzon on Saturday at Golfzon Social in the Palisades Center. Participants played on Golfzon's industry-leading TwoVision+ simulators, with the competition taking place on PGA TOUR host venue The Champion course at PGA National Resort.
With a tight leaderboard coming down the stretch, McCann and Taylor birdied the par-3 17th before chipping in for eagle on the par-5 18th to finish at 12-under. The pair fired a 7-under 29 on the back nine, which opened with three straight birdies on Nos. 10, 11, and 12.
McCann said after the round, "Anthony told me he was going to eagle the last hole, and then he hit it out of the bunker into the hole and eagled it before I made an eagle."
Though McCann and Taylor played the first four holes in 1-under, they birdied four of the last five holes to turn in 5-under 31 to ignite their run to the end.
The duo took home the top prize of a Golfzon Simulator and Strongwood modular booth to be installed at their club. Individually, McCann and Taylor won a David Leadbetter Experience, including travel and accommodations.
Taylor added, "I played horrible on the front. Jim picked me up, and there were a couple of holes on the back nine, I picked him up, and that's how you win these things. You have to play ham and egg, and we didn't give away anything. We gave nothing back."
Ryan Buckley and amateur Nicholas Loughlin of Fiddler's Elbow and Colby Cannon and amateur Michael Corbo from Upper Montclair finished in a tie for second at 9-under. Cannon and Corbo held the lead at times on Saturday but bogeyed the par-3 17th to fall off the pace while McCann and Taylor closed strong.
Selim Cinar and amateur Mike Prober of Whippoorwill came in fourth at 8-under, while there was a three-way tie for fifth at 7-under between David Vazquez and amateur Charlie Pacilio of Canoe Brook, Brian Mackey and amateur Steven Lebezeit of North Jersey and Wally Gonzalez and amateur Steven Griffin of Golf Performance Center.
Corbo was the low amateur with a 7-under 65, while McCann earned low professional honors at 5-under 67. The low amateur and pro won Golfzon Waves (portable launch monitors).