Mark Lawrence wins 2026 State Open of Virginia at Independence Golf Club: 'Great confidence boost'

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Mark Lawrence won the 2026 State Open of Virginia at Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, finishing at 14 under par with a final-round 66 to claim his second State Open title.

Lawrence previously won the event as an amateur in 2020, making him just the second golfer in tournament history to win as both an amateur and a professional.

Drew Brockwell finished in second place at 10 under par, followed by Jay Woodson in third at 6 under. Gus Lascola, George Duangmanee, and Scott Shingler tied for fourth at 5 under.

Lawrence credited his putting as the key to his victory after struggling with it for much of the year.

"My ball striking has been really solid all year. It's just really just been putting, and I saw a few putts go in throughout the delays yesterday, and it just gave me a lot of confidence," Lawrence said.

Brockwell said Lawrence's combination of wedge play and putting was difficult to beat.

"I mean, he wedges it awesome. You can't hit wedges better than he does," Brockwell said. "And then when he starts to get the putter out, that's a dirty combination."

Lawrence said the victory was a significant confidence boost heading into the next phase of his professional career.

"It's a great confidence boost proving to myself that I can do it over three days. I made one bogey and it was a mud ball in the middle of the fairway. So I know that my ball striking is good enough, the putting was good enough this week, so there's a lot of things I can build off of from here," Lawrence said.

Lawrence will now return to his professional career with several Monday qualifiers ahead, leading up to a shot at PGA Tour Q-School this fall.

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