New Year’s Invitational – Press
4th January 2025
Cayden Pope runs away from the field to win New Year’s Invitational
Cayden Pope carded rounds of 68-68-67 to finish 13-under and win the championship division in the 2025 New Year’s Invitational Championship Division at St. Petersburg Country Club in Saint Petersburg, Fla., by six shots.
The Auburn Sophomore came into the final round tied with Chase Haygood of UCF, but a final round 5-under 67 from Pope saw him pull away from the field. Haygood shot a final round 5-over 77 and finished T10 and 3-under.
“A lot of it was off the tee,” Pope said about his consistency. “Keeping the ball in play. It was pretty windy, so it was easy to get the ball a bit crooked at times. That, and I putted well all week.”
3rd January 2025
Cayden Pope, Chase Haygood lead after round two of New Year’s Invitational
Cayden Pope and Chase Haygood lead the 2025 New Year’s Invitational Championship Division at St. Petersburg Country Club in Saint Petersburg, Fla.
Pope, a sophomore at Auburn, and Haygood, a junior at UCF, have both shot rounds of 4-under 68 in the opening two rounds to get to 8-under overall and lead by two shots over the field.
Shubham Jaglan is in solo third place at 6-under after two rounds of 3-under 69. John Daly II and Noah Kumar are T4 at 5-under to round out the top five.
2nd January 2025
John Daly II headlines leaders after round one of New Year’s Invitational
John Daly II, son of John Daly, shot a first-round 6-under 66 to be one of the five leaders in the Championship Division after the opening round of the 2025 New Year’s Invitational at St. Petersburg Country Club in Saint Petersburg, Fla.
Daly is joined by Jack Burbee, Noah Kumar, Jackson Finney, and Nikita Gubenko at the top of the leaderboard heading into the second round.
Daly recorded four birdies through the first 17 holes and then made an eagle on the par-5 No. 18 heading into the clubhouse, ensuring dinner would taste that much better with that finish.
26th April 2024
LECOM Suncoast Classic Offers Golden Opportunity to 2025 St. Petersburg Country Club’s New Year’s Invitational Winner
Lakewood Ranch, FL – April 30, 2024 – The LECOM Suncoast Classic is proud to announce an exciting partnership with
St. Petersburg Country Club’s historic New Year’s Invitational Golf Tournament. In a move aimed at fostering talent and rewarding excellence, the LECOM Suncoast Classic, a tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour, has awarded a highly sought-after exemption to the winner of The 99th New Year’s Invitational, scheduled for play January 2 – 4, 2025 at St. Petersburg Country Club in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The prestigious New Year’s Invitational Golf Tournament (NYI) is renowned for attracting top amateur golfers from around the globe. Former winners of this tournament include current PGA TOUR professionals Hayden Buckley, Brandt Snedeker, Luke List and JB Holmes; along with current Top-10 US ranked amateur Nick Gabrelcik. Recent winners in 2024 on the PGA TOUR are NYI alumni: Peter Malnati and Stephen Jaeger. Hayden Buckley won the NYI in both 2017 and 2018 before starting his professional career and winning the LECOM Suncoast Classic in 2021, touted as Buckley’s first professional win.