Contact: Greg Murphy

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- Former Cleveland State golfer Jake Scott (Strongsville, Ohio) won the PGA Assistant Championship on Sunday, closing with a 2-under 70 for a seven-stroke victory.

The 25-year-old Scott, a PGA apprentice at Elyria Country Club in Ohio, had a 17-under 271 total at PGA Golf Club's Wanamaker Course. He earned $9,000 and a spot next summer in the PGA Professional National Championship at Sunriver in Oregon.

"I knew that I couldn't let up, not matter what kind of lead I had. The players here are just too good," Scott said. "In the middle of the front nine I made three birdies in a row and got rolling with the putter, which carried me through the rest of the round."

First-round leader Ryan Vermeer finished second, shooting a 73. The 34-year-old Vermeer is a PGA apprentice at Oak Hills Country Club in Omaha, Neb.

The seven-stroke victory was one off the tournament record set by three-time champion Kyle Flinton in 2005.

"You never really feel comfortable about winning a championship like this until the final putt drops," Scott said. "I had a few wild shots in the middle of the round, but was able to right the ship and stick to my game plan of being aggressive and it paid off."

Scott, who won a U.S. Open Local Qualifier back in May, was a four-year letterwinner for the Vikings, helping the squad to three Horizon League Championships and three berths at the NCAA regionals.

The 2009 Horizon League Player of the Year, Scott was also a three-time all-league honoree (2007, 2008, 2009). Scott holds the CSU career scoring average record (74.1) and also claims the top two CSU single-season scoring averages. He averaged 72.7 in 2007-08 and 73.2 in 2008-09. Scott, who also owns a CSU-best 45 rounds of par or better, was the medalist at the league championship in 2008 and 2009 and was also the runner-up in 2007.