CARROLLTON – UT Arlington rising junior golfer Paul Gonzalez capped a brilliant week at the 116th Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship with a runner-up finish on Friday at the revered tournament, finishing four rounds at challenging Maridoe Golf Club at 2-under par.
 
The Waxahachie native made the turn trailing leader Pierceson Coody by six shots, but Gonzalez steadily continued to clip off pars while the University of Texas rising sophomore bogeyed four of the first six holes on the back to see his advantage trimmed to two by Gonzalez. However, that was as close as Gonzalez would get as Coody – who finished co-runner-up in this same tournament last year – posted a winning 72-hole score of 4-under par following a final-round 74.
 
Gonzalez posted four incredibly consistent rounds of 72-72-71-71 on the par-72, 7,200-yard layout to finish as just one of four players in the field of more than 140 to conclude under par for the week.
 
His solo 2nd-place finish places Gonzalez in well-regarded company as this decade alone four runner-ups of the Trans-Miss Am have gone on to earn their PGA Tour cards: Collin Morikawa (T-2 at last week's PGA Tour 3M Open), Austin Cook (won the PGA Tour's RSM Classic in the 2018 season), Kevin Tway (currently top-100 in the Official World Golf Rankings and 33rd in the FedEx Cup) and Dylan Frittelli (currently 133 in the OWGR in his first full season on Tour).
 
One of the most storied amateur golf tournaments in the country, former notable champions of the Trans-Miss Am this decade include: Cameron Champ (2017), Morikawa (2015), Bryson DeChambeau (2013) and Kelly Kraft (2011). All four of those winners are currently on the PGA Tour with six combined victories and 30 top-10 finishes.
 
Gonzalez entered the Trans-Miss Am with some experience at the course as he teed it up at the Maridoe Intercollegiate last fall, finishing in a tie for 6th place after rounds of 68-76-73.
 
A Sun Belt All-Conference Second Team member this past year, Gonzalez led UTA with a 72.90 scoring average as a sophomore, representing the 7th-best in single-season program history. He recorded 12 par-or-better rounds and had a team-best 69.8 finish percentage while signing for four rounds in the 60s.
 
In addition to Gonzalez, his teammate and rising sophomore Kyle Cox placed a respectable T-38 in the Trans-Miss Am with rounds of 75-74-76-77 (+14).
 
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