By NAN STAFF WRITER
News Americas, AUGUSTA, GA, Weds. April 13, 2022: A Caribbean teenager got the opportunity of a lifetime last week, as he secured a chance to play in the 2022 Masters Tournament.
Cayman Islands born Aaron Jarvis finished at 10-over 155 at the Augusta National, after posting identical rounds of 81-74. Jarvis was the youngest player in the field and narrowly missed acing the infamous par-3 12th and 16th holes before settling for birdies.
Jarvis attends the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and chose the school because of his interest in its golf team and coaches. He is the son of Lana and Robin Jarvis.
Meanwhile, as he was playing a practice round ahead of the 2022 Masters Tournament, the 19-year-old noticed Tiger Woods on the course. Without hesitation he made his move toward the 15-time major champion.
Jarvis, who won the Latin America Amateur in January to qualify for the 86th Masters.
“I ran up to him through the woods and asked, ‘Mr. Woods, are you playing by yourself, or can we join?’ He’s like, ‘I’m just gonna play by myself today.’
“But it was pretty cool to see him kind of play in front of me. After the round, we got to talk to him and (Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava) for 10 minutes or so, and it was just incredible,” Jarvis said, according to Gold World.
As for the advice Jarvis received from Woods, Jarvis said the five-time Masters champion stressed preparation and told him to “be yourself, go out and have fun” this week.
“If you do the right preparation, everything will kind of take care of itself,” Jarvis said during his Monday news conference. “It’s just incredible talking to Tiger and hopefully I get to talk to him in the future as well.”
On Instagram, Jarvis posted, “Wow! What a week.. I can’t even put into words how incredible that experience was. Growing up as a kid I’ve always dreamed about having the opportunity to play in the masters and I did it. Although it was not the results that I was looking for, I learned so much throughout the whole week from all the top players in the world. I learned things about myself that has allowed me to grow in all aspects of my game and outside of golf. I would like to thank @laac_golf and @themasters for this opportunity. Thank you to my friends, family and my team for all the support. Also, It was an honor to represent my small country on the biggest stage. The vibes the whole week were amazing and look forward to what’s ahead. Time to get back to work with my boys in Vegas to finish off the semester strong.”