Four ladies share the lead at the ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex at 3-under-par 69. Euna Han of (Canada) Port Coquitlam, British Columbia; Katie Li of Basking Ridge, New Jersey; Amari Avery of Riverside, California; and Ho Yu An of Taipei, Taiwan sit atop the leaderboard after the first round.
The 12th ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex boasts a field featuring the best female junior golfers from around the world. The 72-player field includes 12 Rolex Junior All-Americans, eight of the top-25 girls in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and four within the top 10. The champion of the ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex will receive an exemption into the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, March 6-8, through the AJGA’s partnership with the Symetra Tour.
Han had an impressive back-nine that included birdies on four of her last six holes to finish with a 69. She is No. 55 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and had a runner-up finish last year at the AJGA Junior at Yolo Fliers.
An had an equally impressive round carding five birdies and one eagle during her round. She is coming off a career-best runner-up finish at the 2019 Swinging Skirts AJGA Invitational and is No. 29 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Avery battled for her 3-under-par 69 throughout the day and had eight birdies to move into a tie for the lead after day one. She is the highest ranked of the girls tied for the lead at No. 22 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and she is looking for her third AJGA win and first since 2017.
Li carded three birdies on her first nine holes and then tallied two birdies and five straight pars to finish her round strong and join Han, An and Avery at the top of the leaderboard. She is coming off an impressive 2019 season that included four top-5 finishes and one win at the AJGA Junior at Southpointe presented by DICK'S Sporting Goods.
Maria Jose Bohorquez of Bogota, Colombia, is in solo fifth place after carding a 2-under-par 70. She had five birdies on the day, three of which came in her first nine holes. Bohorquez is No. 93 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and finished T12 at the 2019 ANNIKA Invitational USA tournament.
The second round will take place at the World Golf Village - Slammer & Squire course on Sunday, January 19, on Nos. 1 and 10 from 8:15 a.m. to 10:05 a.m.
For more information or photo requests, please contact Trevor Beshear (tbeshear@ajga.org ) at 573-645-7336.