Middle Tennessee State University redshirt sophomore Connor Henry played a lights-out final round at Sterling Grove Golf + Country Club in nearby Surprise, to win the 4^th annual Thunderbolt. Henry began the day two shots off the lead, but fired a -6 (65) in the final round to force a playoff with 36-hole co-leader Rylan Johnson of Oregon State University. Henry’s par on the first playoff hole (the 18^th) would be enough to give him the title. View the final 2025 Thunderbolt leaderboard here.

“It feels amazing – I look forward to this tournament every winter break, and to come back to my second year and get the win means a lot,” said Williams, a junior from Escondido, Calif., of his second career collegiate win. “I think I was in control of most of my game. I played very smart, some of these pins are very tricky and I think I only made three bogeys all week which is huge, because there’s birdies out there but you’ve got to avoid some of those bigger numbers.”

“It’s been a long year and a fun year, and so to cap off 2025 with a win it means so much,” said Zibilski, a Springfield, Missouri-native with two career collegiate wins. “I told my dad the front sounds really tough, so just stay patient and steady on the front, and then kind of get on a run on the back. And that’s exactly what I did – I stayed patient and let the putts fall whenever they presented themselves.”

“Just being able to come out here and represent our fallen American heroes it’s just really puts things into perspective how just blessed we are just to be able to play golf for fun in college and just competitively,” said Henry, a Fort Worth, Tex.-native who started his final round by holing a wedge on the first hole, en route to his first career collegiate win. “It’s really cool. I had that on my mind all week, and just to come out with the trophy and what that means, it’s all a bonus, it’s all just a blessing and very grateful.”

For Williams, a consistent strategy of keeping the ball in play and minimizing mistakes paid off with only three bogeys on the week, compared to 17 birdies. In control of his game all week long, Williams sees a chance to continue a hot streak into the spring golf season. Illinois’ Ryan Voois finished alone in second place at -8 overall following rounds of 68-68-66. Pepperdine’s Mahanth Chiravurri, who made a hole-in-one on the 16^th hole, tied for third at -7 overall with Florida’s Parker Bell, and Bell’s Gator teammate Matthew Kress rounded out the top five at -6 overall.

Zibilski was trending in the right direction all week, shooting scores of 70-68-66. The last of six birdies in the final round on the par-3 17^th was enough to create one shot of separation between her and both 36-hole leader Kylie Chong of USC, and 2023 Champion and first-round co-leader Tillie Claggett of Vanderbilt, who finished at -5 overall, respectively. First-round co-leader Amy DeKock of Kansas and Arizona’s Nena Wongthanavimok each finished tied for fourth at -4, respectively.

The Patriot All-America Invitational features PING All-Americans from the previous season in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and NJCAA; as well as 2024 First Team All-America Seniors from the AJGA and other special invitees. The 54-hole amateur event is known as the first of its kind to combine the talents of 159 nationally recognized men and women golfers simultaneously at one tournament.

The Patriot All-America honors fallen or severely wounded soldiers in partnership with the Folds of Honor Foundation. The golfers receive a golf bag donated by PING Corporation at the event’s opening ceremony emblazoned with the name and branch of service of a fallen or injured military member or first responder, whom they shall represent.  Participants also receive a card with the soldier’s and first responder’s story so they can be familiar with that person, giving many of the top players a unique perspective not only on golf, but on life. At the conclusion of the tournament, the golf bags are shipped to players’ schools and auctioned with all proceeds benefitting the Folds of Honor Foundation.