Jeffrey Cunningham takes 10-under title

It was all over but the shouting when Jeffrey Cunningham drained a 35-foot putt on No. 17.

“Come on, come on,” Cunningham shouted as he pumped his fist much like his golf idol, Tiger Woods.

“I had to do that. That was a big moment.”

Future Masters:

Photos from the tournament

The wonderful putt gave Cunningham a 4-stroke lead, and he went on to win the 10-under division of the 60th Annual Press Thornton Future Masters at the
Dothan Country Club on Tuesday.

He finished his second nine-hole round at 1-under par 34 to go along with a first round 33 for a two-day, 3-under par 67 in the 18-hole tournament.

Cunningham’s 67 is just one behind the Future Masters record for the 10-under division. Joshua Martin holds the 10-under record (66) and set a new 11-12
record on Tuesday with a three-round 9-under par 201 to win that championship by 12 strokes.

Trey DePriest of Monette, Ark., finished second at 70, followed by Whit Parker of Conway, Ark., at 72 and Christope Stutts of Maitland, Fla., at 73. Anton
Serafini of Lake Mary, Fla., and Andrew Kozan of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., came in at 74, Martin Jaramillo of Bradenton, Fla., at 76, Ben Fuller of
Birmingham and Christian Salzer of Sumter, S.C., at 77, and Wilson Furr of Jackson, Miss., at 78.

“Jeffrey has worked so hard,” his proud mother, Pam Cunningham said. “This shows his hard work really pays off.”

His father, Malcolm Cunningham, said he talked to his son before the round about focusing on the final two holes.

“He was here last year and struggled on the last two holes and finished sixth,” Malcolm said. “We talked about finishing 17 and 18. That (birdie) did it. It took
the wind out of the others.”

Cunningham was in a battle much of the day with DePriest and Parker.

A birdie on No. 15 put Cunningham up by two strokes on DePriest. A hole later, DePriest made his only bogey of the round to give Cunningham a 3-stroke lead.

“That’s no time for a bogey,” said DePriest, who started the day three strokes behind Cunningham.

It was then Cunningham putting it away on No. 17 with the birdie. After hitting his drive in the right fairway, he landed his second shot on the par 4 at the front
of the green, then beautifully stroked in the long putt uphill.

“During the practice round, my dad was saying on 17 to hit it right, not left,” Cunningham said. “I aimed right and hit a great shot in and it ended up short.

“I said, ‘I’m going to knock that in.’ ”
Cunningham finished with a bogey on No. 18 when a short par putt lipped out, but that didn’t dampen the moment.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said of winning.

DePriest was pleased with his second place showing.

“It means a lot for me,” DePriest said. “Last year I had a big slump. The best I finished the whole time was seventh or eighth.

“Overcoming that slump this year makes me very confident.”