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USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Summer of Aphrodite: Deng, 15, becomes first Canadian champion of U.S. Girls' Junior
The summer of Aphrodite is upon us. Aphrodite Deng, a 15-year-old from Canada, captured the 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior on Saturday at Atlanta Athletic Club in Georgia, topping 16-year-old Xingtong Chen from Singapore 2 and 1 in the 36-hole championship final for her first USGA title and biggest win of her life. It's also the first time a Canadian has won the U.S. Girls' Junior title. "It feels unreal, and I can't believe it," she told NBC Sports' Kay Cockerill. "It was really hard to keep the lead, especially the last few holes because I got really tired. During my break, I just rested well." Deng led 4 up after the morning 18 holes on Chen, the first player from Singapore to play in the championship match of the U.S. Girls' Junior. In the afternoon, Chen won two of the first five holes to shrink her deficit to 2 down, but Deng fought back, building her lead back to 4 up with five holes to play. But Chen wasn't done. She made birdie on the 32nd hole to win the hole and then won with par on the 34th when she was three down, forcing a 35th hole. However, both players made par on the long par-3 17th, giving Deng the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy. "She played really solid, and it was a really good match," Deng said of Chen. The victory for Deng is the latest in a long list of big wins this year. It started taking the title in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and followed that up with winning the Mizuho Americas Open. Now, she's a USGA champion. Last year, the junior circuit belonged to Rianne Malixi and Asterisk Talley, who combined won three USGA championships with Malixi beating Talley in the championship finals at the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior. 2025 belongs to Aphrodite Deng, who can now try to match Malixi with a win at the U.S. Women's Amateur next month at Bandon Dunes.
USA Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Who will be the next amateur to earn an LPGA card through LEAP? The next month is crucial
Lottie Woad became the first amateur to graduate from the tour's new LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP) program and will make her pro debut next week in Scotland. So, who's next? The LPGA designed the program with the idea that only amateurs with exceptional records would reach the threshold of 20 points. Last November, when the tour outlined the new program to its membership, officials noted that in the past 12 years, Lydia Ko, Leona Maguire and Rose Zhang were the only players who would've earned enough points to qualify for a card. The LPGA didn't want this to necessarily be an annual thing – more like every three to four years. Before Woad won the 2024 Augusta National Women's Amateur, she had only one LEAP point from the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup. She earned two points with the ANWA victory and that came with a host of major championship starts, which Woad took advantage of with top-25 finishes in the 2024 Chevron Championship and 2024 AIG Women's British Open. When she reached No. 1 amateur in the world, she earned another three points, and the 2024 Mark H. McCormack Medal garnered another four. In all, Woad earned 19 points in the span of 15 months. Woad turned professional this week, which means she'll drop off the rankings, as former No. 2 Mirabel Ting did after making her pro debut last week at Evian. The next month is crucial for accumulating points as the McCormack Medal will be decided after the U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes, which ends Aug. 10. The medal comes with four points and exemptions into the U.S. Women's Open and AIG Women's British Open. A player could reach No. 1 for the first time and win the medal in short order, taking a total of seven LEAP points. Winning the U.S. Women's Amateur earns two points and a chance to play in four majors. Oregon's Kiara Romera currently ranks No. 2 in WAGR, but it's worth noting that her 2023 U.S. Girls' Junior title will soon roll off the two-year window. Two Spanish players who play for Stanford – Andrea Revuelta Goicoechea and Paula Martin Sampedro – are Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. Martin Sampedro has an exemption into the Women's British at Royal Portrush for her win at the 2025 Women's British Amateur. As for the current LEAP standings, Anna Davis now leads the way with nine points. Maria Jose Marin is second with eight and Jasmine Koo has seven. Kiara Romero, Rachel Heck (who has no intent on turning pro) and Catherine Park have six points. The window for earning LEAP points is any given year, plus the previous three calendar years.
USA Today
14-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Everything to know about the 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior at Atlanta Athletic Club
It's time once again for the biggest junior event in girls golf. The 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior is set to begin Monday at Atlanta Athletic Club's Riverside Course in Johns Creek, Georgia. The field of 156 golfers will compete in just the second U.S. Girls' Junior in Georgia. It's the 76th playing of the championship. Last year, Rianne Malixi avenged her runner-up finish in 2023 to defeat Asterisk Talley 8 and 7 at El Caballero Country Club in California. It was the championship's largest margin of victory since it went to a 36-hole final in 2006. Malixi also defeated Talley in the U.S. Women's Amateur final 22 days later, the first time two players met in a U.S. Women's Am and U.S. Girls' Junior title match in the same calendar year. Here's everything you need to know for the 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior. Atlanta Athletic Club yardage book OUT: 3,103 yards (Par 35) IN: 3,209 yards (Par 36) TOTAL: 6,312 yards (Par 71) Where to watch U.S. Girls' Junior 2025, TV information Players to watch at U.S. Girls' Junior 2025 Nikki Oh: Member of the U.S. National Junior Team; daughter of 1993 U.S. Open qualifier (at 16 years old) and current teaching pro Ted Oh Asterisk Talley: Finished runner-up in the U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Amateur in 2024; won U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball in 2024; made 2024 U.S. Curtis Cup team Scarlett Schremmer: Reached the Round of 16 in last year's U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Amateur. Signed with Texas A&M U.S. Girls' Junior field facts Youngest competitor: Bella Simoes, of Lake Worth, Florida, 11 years, 11 months, 11 days old. Oldest competitor: Morgan Rupp, of Marion, Iowa,18 years, 11 months and 19 days old. Average age: 16.42 Field breakdown by age: International: There are 16 countries represented: Australia (6), Bolivia (1), Canada (10), Chinese Taipei (2), Colombia (3), Hong Kong (2), Japan (2), Lebanon (1), Mexico (3), China (5), Korea (1), Singapore (1), Sri Lanka (1), Thailand (6), United States (111), Venezuela (1) States represented: There are 37 states represented: Alabama (4), Arizona (2), California (25), Colorado (3), Connecticut (2), Delaware (1), Florida (11), Georgia (3), Hawaii (2), Idaho (1), Illinois (2), Indiana (1), Iowa (1), Kansas (1), Kentucky (2), Louisiana (1), Maryland (1), Michigan (2), Minnesota (2), Mississippi (2), Missouri (3), Montana (1), Nebraska (1), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (6), New York (4), North Carolina (3), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (3), Pennsylvania (3), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (1), Texas (7), Utah (1), Virginia (1), Washington (3), Wisconsin (1) USGA Champions (4): Sarah Lim (2024 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball), Asterisk Talley (2024 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball), Natalie Yen (2025 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball), Asia Young (2025 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball) USGA runners-up (3): Brynn Kort (2024 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball), Athena Singh (2025 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball), Asterisk Talley (2024 U.S. Girls' Junior, 2024 U.S. Women's Amateur) Seven players are in the top 100 of the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking as of July 9: What winner of U.S. Girls' Junior receives What is the format at the U.S. Girls' Junior?
USA Today
12-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Two former tennis players share the lead at Evian Masters, with two heavyweights lurking
A pair of former tennis hotshots who turned to golf lead the Amundi Evian Championship heading into the final round. Gabriela Ruffels and Cara Gainer, who both experienced burnout on the courts, are knotted at 11 under on the shores of Lake Geneva, chased by a group that's as diverse as it is packed. Ruffels, the promising Aussie whose parents were both professional tennis players, has yet to win on the LPGA, while England's Gainer won for the first time on the LET to start 2025. Both started playing golf at age 14, the same age Jeeno Thitikul became the youngest winner on the LET. "I mean, tennis was, I guess, my first love," said 29-year-old Gainer, who had no designs to play golf professionally while in school. In fact, while at Cardiff University, she had an interview for a job in golf outside the ropes with IMG. "It kind of took a turn, and I actually never got that job," she noted in her post-round interview, "which I laugh about now because things could have really taken a bit of a different role." Gainer, who once dreamed of winning a grand slam event, turned professional in golf at the start of 2020 at the age of 24. Ruffels, meanwhile, was a top-three tennis player in her age group in Australia, a national champion for 12 and under and a member of the national squad. Her heroes back then were Kim Clijsters and Roger Federer. Just last week, she traveled to London to attend Wimbledon as a fan. It was only a decade ago that Ruffels played her first 18-hole round with her dad's clubs. She'd go on to win the 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur title five years later. Gainer won the 2017 English Women's Open Match Play Championship not long after she decided to pursue golf full time. Ruffels and Gainer are outliers in a field of specialized athletes who've trained most of their lives to do one thing. "I guess I just kind of knew in the back of my mind I had the ability," said Gainer. "It's just I was very far behind in experience compared to a lot of the players that had been through college and all that. I felt when I came on Tour to begin with, I was really behind in terms of tournament experience." Indeed, Gainer is getting started at an age when many of the LPGA's best are thinking about an exit plan. Ruffels, 25, is making her second Evian Championship appearance while Gainer is making her first. A victory tomorrow would give Gainer an LPGA card. While she's new to Evian the major, Gainer took a share of third at the LET's Jabra Ladies Open at Evian Golf Resort earlier this year. Meanwhile, Ruffels' experience factor is getting a significant boost from caddie Travis Wilson, longtime looper for Stacy Lewis, who isn't in the field. Of course, both newcomers will have to get past the two favorites going into Sunday – Minjee Lee and Thitikul, who trail by one at 10 under alongside LPGA winners Grace Kim and Somi Lee. Minjee Lee, the 2021 Evian champion, recently won her third major title at the KPMG Women's PGA while world No. 2 Thitikul is eager to shed the best-player-without-a-major moniker. Only six players have become four-time major winners since 2000: Karrie Webb, Annika Sorenstam, Se Ri Pak, Meg Mallon, Yani Tseng and Inbee Park. "I'm usually always pretty relaxed," said Lee, "but I definitely feel like I have a different mentality and maybe a little bit different fire in me after KPMG." Two players are two back in a share of ninth – Yuri Yoshida (63) and Casandra Alexander (69). According LPGA stats, over the past 10 seasons, 80 percent of the tour's major winners have been within two shots of the lead entering the final round.
USA Today
10-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former tennis phenom Gabi Ruffels attends Wimbledon, then co-leads Amundi Evian in France
Gabi Ruffels prepped for the LPGA's fourth major championship of the season by attending another major as a fan. Before heading to France for the Amundi Evian Championship, where she co-leads, Ruffels first stopped in London for a relaxing day at Wimbledon. The daughter of two tennis pros, Ruffels first excelled at tennis back in Australia before abruptly switching to golf. She was 6 years old the last time she attended Wimbledon and didn't remember much. "I went with my boyfriend and also we went kind of as guests of Todd Woodbridge, who was a doubles champion and really good friends with my dad. My dad coached him throughout his whole career," said Ruffels of her father Ray. "So it was nice meeting up with them. He got us into the member's only area which was so cool. It was such a cool experience. Yeah, it's just kind of like a perspective switch as well from golf to kind of get in the tennis world." Ruffels' opening bogey-free 6-under 65 gives her a share of the lead in France with fellow Aussie Grace Kim, Jennifer Kupcho, Andrea Lee and Leona Maguire, who was buoyed by a mid-round ace. Minjee Lee, winner of last month's KPMG Women's PGA, sits one shot back at 5 under while world No. 1 Nelly Korda holds a share of seventh at 4 under. "I didn't drive it very well, especially with my driver, so I'm going to the range after," Korda told her sister Jessica, who was working for Golf Channel, after the round. "Going to FaceTime my coach, Jamie (Mulligan), and kind of figure out what was going on. "I had two misses and that's never good on a tight Evian golf course with the rough being pretty thick. Putting as the day went on progressively got better." While it's more of the same for players like Lee and Kupcho, the recent winner of the Meijer LPGA Classic, Ruffels hasn't had a top 10 yet this season. The 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur champion noted that she's been working hard on her swing with instructor Bret Lederer and was pleased with Thursday's results. "My irons were really good but I made a lot of putts, too," said Ruffels. "I made a lot of putts outside like 20, 25 feet which really helps out here. Then made some good putts inside 15 feet."
