News

AJGA member Sang Ha Park is getting a taste of professional golf this week as he competes in the Korean PGA TOUR's Hyundai Marine Choi Kyoung-ju Invitational.

Paris Hilinski of La Quinta, California, earned a wire-to-wire victory at the Texas Junior Golf Tour’s Fifth Annual Lonestar Girls Invitational.

Check out this week's highlights from the world of golf across social media.

2018 announcement | Girls Team The 12 boys on the 2018 Rolex Junior All-America first team represent seven states (five Californians), Canada, Japan and Australia. Three junior golfers earned Rolex Junior All-America honors for the first time: James Song of Rancho Santa Fe, California; U.S. Junior Amateur champion Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Massachusetts; and Alexander Yang of Carlsbad, California. Three juniors make their second appearance on the first team: 2018 Rolex Junior Player of the Year Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest, North Carolina; Ricky Castillo of Yorba Linda, California; and Karl Vilips of (Australia) Wesley Chapel, Florida. Four junior golfers are now playing college golf: Ryan Hall of Knoxville, Tennessee (South Carolina); Shiryu (Leo) Oyo of (Japan) San Diego, California (San Diego State); Cameron Sisk of El Cajon, California (Arizona State); and Song (University of Southern California-Berkeley). In addition to the four already competing at the next level, five boys are committed to play college golf. Meet the Teams First Team 2018 Rolex Junior Player of the Year Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest, North Carolina Ricky Castillo of Yorba Linda, California Canon Claycomb of Bowling Green, Kentucky Ryan Hall of Knoxville, Tennessee William Moll of Houston, Texas Shiryu (Leo) Oyo of (Japan) San Diego, California Cameron Sisk of El Cajon, California James Song of (Canada) Rancho Santa Fe, California Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Massachusetts Travis Vick of Houston, Texas Karl Vilips of (Australia) Wesley Chapel, Florida Alexander Yang of Carlsbad, California Boys – Second Team Connor Creasy of Abingdon, Virginia Eugene Hong of Orlando, Florida J. Holland Humphries of Austin, Texas Bo Jin of (China) Encinitas, California John Keefer of San Antonio, Texas William Mouw of Chino, California Jeewon Park of (South Korea) Lake Mary, Florida Luke Potter of Encinitas, California Gordon Sargent of Birmingham, Alabama Ian Siebers of Bellevue, Washington Jackson Van Paris of Pinehurst, North Carolina Jonathan Yaun of Minneola, Florida Honorable Mention Trey Bosco of Austin, Texas Nicolas Cassidy of Johns Creek, Georgia Kuangyu Chen of (Australia) Shenzhen, China Aaron Chen of Fremont, California George Duangmanee of Fairfax, Virginia Chris Fosdick of Middlefield, Connecticut Peter Fountain of Raleigh, North Carolina Austin Greaser of Vandalia, Ohio Frankie Harris of Boca Raton, Florida Jun Min (Jimmy) Lee of (South Korea) Mission, Texas Tyler Lipscomb of Carrollton, Georgia Dylan Menante of Carlsbad, California Hazen Newman of Las Vegas, Nevada Jay Nimmo of Benton, Kentucky Cole Ponich of Farmington, Utah Austyn Reily of Pottsboro, Texas Jackson Rivera of Rancho Santa Fe, California Jeevan Sihota of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Brian Stark of Kingsburg, California Nicklas Staub of Boynton Beach, Florida Will Thomson of Naples, Florida Brendan Valdes of Orlando, Florida Andi Xu of (China) San Diego, California Sampson-Yunhe Zheng of (China) Orlando, Florida

Started in 1978, the Rolex Junior All-America Teams annually recognize players who have proven to be the world’s best.

The 12 girls on the 2018 Rolex Junior All-America first team are from seven states, China, South Korea and Australia.

Several current and former AJGA members finished atop the leaderboard after the Individual and Mixed Team Stroke Play Golf Competitions.

Yujeong Son of (South Korea) Norman, Oklahoma Class of 2019 Rolex AJGA Ranking: 5 Son won her third career AJGA Invitational at the 2018 Rolex Girls Junior Championship in June. Her national junior golf season included six top-10 finishes, including advancing to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Girls Junior Championship. Son ended the season No. 5 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and played for a second time on the victorious Wyndham Cup West Team with a match play record of 3-1-0. The high school senior is a four-time Rolex Junior All-American, on the first team for a third time in her career. Rank Event R1 R2 R3 R4 Total T9 2018 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship 71 68 139 T6 2018 Girls Junior PGA Championship 70 69 70 66 275 1 Rolex Girls Junior Championship 69 70 72 73 284 T1 2018 Scott Robertson Memorial 33 71 104 3 ANA Junior Inspiration 70 68 73 211 2 2018 Kathy Whitworth Invitational 69 73 142 T42 ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex 72 76 84 232

Canon Claycomb of Bowling Green, Kentucky Class of 2020 Rolex AJGA Ranking: 8 Claycomb finished tied for third at the 2018 Boys Junior PGA Championship, and he also qualified for match play at the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. The University of Alabama verbal commit ended the season No. 8 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and played for a second time on the Wyndham Cup East team, with a match play record of 2-1-1. Claycomb was also named to the 2018 ALL-USA Today Boys Golf Second Team. The high school junior is a three-time Rolex Junior All-American, on the first team for the second-consecutive year. He also helped organize the Mason Cup in 2018, which benefited the AJGA's ACE Grant program and the Mason Goodnight Foundation. Twenty of Claycomb's friends - who happen to be some of the top junior golfers in the country - came together to raise more than $40,000 in honor of Mason, a family friend who suddenly passed away at age 10. Other sponsors of the event got invovled as well to help the Mason Cup supply the Foundation with proceeds to help other children in the Bowling Green area. Rank Event R1 R2 R3 R4 Total 11 The PING Invitational 72 78 72 222 T31 The Junior PLAYERS Championship 75 76 71 222 T3 2018 Boys Junior PGA Championship 70 74 69 67 280 T33 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship 73 69 142 4 Polo Golf Junior Classic 71 70 73 70 284 T28 Thunderbird International Junior 75 72 73 220 T28 2018 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club 71 80 77 228 T20 AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods 71 72 75 218 T14 2017 Jones Cup Junior Invitational 72 71 74 217 2 Rolex Tournament of Champions 75 69 64 71 279

Lucy Li of Redwood Shores, California Class of 2020 Rolex AJGA Ranking: 2 Li earned first team Rolex Junior All-America honors for a second consecutive year thanks to six top-10 national junior golf finishes in the 2018 season. The high school junior opened the year with a win at the 2017 Rolex Tournament of Champions, finished second at the January ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex, third in the Polo Golf Junior Classic and was a semifinalist at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. She finished the season No. 2 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and was the first 15-year-old named to the victorious United States Curtis Cup team since Lexi Thompson in 2010. She was also strong in the 2018 Wyndham Cup as a member of the victorious West Team with a perfect 4-0-0 match play record. Li competed in the U.S. Women’s Open for a second time, again as the youngest competitor, and competed with Noh on the winning U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team. Rank Event R1 R2 R3 R4 Total T3 2018 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship 62 69 131 T6 2018 Girls Junior PGA Championship 66 69 69 71 275 3 Polo Golf Junior Classic 68 75 70 69 282 8 ANA Junior Inspiration 70 73 75 218 2 ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex 74 70 72 216 1 Rolex Tournament of Champions 71 62 73 69 275