GROVE CITY — Ryan Prokay will soon have his name on the same trophy as Arnold Palmer.

And Arnod Palmer.

The Grove City High School sophomore shot a 6-over-par 150 to win the West Penn Junior Championship at Shadow Lakes Country Club in Aliquippa last week.

It was the same tournament Palmer won in 1947 and 1948.

Palmer's first name was misspelled "Arnod" on the trophy the second time he won it.

Prokay doesn't care if his name is spelled correctly or not when it is etched on the trophy's surface in a couple of weeks. Just the fact that his name will share space with the legendary Palmer is enough for him.

"It's actually kind of incredible," Prokay said. "I didn't even know he played in that tournament. He won that tournament and look where he is now. It just shows you what can happen if you keep working hard. Maybe you can get to that point, too."

Prokay first picked up a club when he was 2, swinging in the back yard. When he was five, he hit the golf course for the first time.

But it wasn't easy.

"We couldn't find a course to go to that would let him play," said Jane Prokay, Ryan's mother.

Eventually, the Prokays found a free public course in Sharon that allowed him to play.

By age 7, Prokay was on public courses playing 18 holes and keeping score.

And winning.

Now 16, Prokay is savoring his biggest win.

And it didn't come without some adversity.

Prokay led by three strokes after the first round, shooting an even-par 72.

But he had a double-bogey on No. 9, endured a rain delay on the tee at No. 11, then waited more than 30 minutes after his final hole of the tournament for the rest of the field to finish to find out if he had won, or had to face a playoff.

"I definitely had to refocus on the 10th tee," Prokay said. "On the 27th hole I made a seven and I knew I let everyone back in it."

He had another deflating moment on No. 17 when his short putt lipped out.

"I was thinking I just lost it right there," Prokay said.

"But to be a good golfer, you have to have a short memory."

Prokay learned that while playing in as many tournaments as he could over the past several years. The harder the course, the tougher the competition, the better.

That experience kept him sane during that 30-minute wait for the rest of the field to come in.

He spent that time on the practice green with his 16-year-old caddy, John Dunch of Hubbard, Ohio.

It served two purposes: it took his mind off the what-ifs and got him ready for a potential playoff.

But there was no playoff. Instead he edged Cranberry Township resident Matt Vogt by one stroke. Vogt had a double-bogey on the final hole of the tournament.

"He shanked one into the water on 18," Prokay said. "That was the difference. I felt bad for him."

The win is just one in a summer full of competitions and Prokay is determined not to let the euphoria cloud his mind.

He returned Monday to play in a King's Restaurant Junior Golf Tournament stop at Aubrey's Dubbs Dread in Butler Township and shot a 67 in a rain-shortened round.

Prokay said he realizes there is a lot more golf to be played.

"It's just one tournament," Prokay said. "But it gives me a big confidence boost because I know I can play with the best around. Whoever has won that trophy, it's well earned."