Scottsdale, AZ – William Mouw of Chino, California, had an opening round of 5-under-par 65 to take a one-stroke lead over the Boys Division. Sadie Englemann of Austin, Texas, carded six birdies to a first-round three-under-par 69.
This is the 20th anniversary of the Thunderbird International Junior, an event that has been hosted by Grayhawk Golf Club every year on Memorial Day since 2000. The tournament has had notable past champions such as Ryan Moore, Brian Harman, Morgan Pressel and Ariya Jutanugarn. The field this year includes nine of the top-10 boys in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and seven of the top-10 girls.
Mouw started his round with a par on each of the first-three holes and he finished without carding a single bogey during the first round. Last year, Mouw finished fifth at the Thunderbird International Junior and earlier this year he won his first AJGA event, the PING Heather Farr Classic. Mouw is No. 12 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Travis Vick of Houston, Texas, is just one stroke off the lead after shooting a first-round 66 that included seven birdies. The high school senior is currently No. 3 in the Rolex AJGA rankings, and has signed a National Letter of Intent to University of Texas at Austin.
Taehoon Song of (South Korea) Buena Park, California, is just two shots back after finishing the day with a 3-under-par 67. Song recorded four birdies on the day and had had a bogey free back-nine. He recently earned his first victory earlier this year after winning the 2019 AJGA Junior at Yolo Fliers.
Jackson Van Paris of Pinehurst, North Carolina, rounds out the group of four players who shot under par in the first round after shooting a 1-under-par 69. Van Paris is currently No. 5 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, and is coming off a victory in his last AJGA start at the 2019 AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods.
Brendan Valdes of Orlando, Florida, J. Holland Humphries of Austin, Texas, William Moll of Houston, Texas, and Andi Xu of (China) San Diego, California, are all T5 after shooting even-par 70.
Englemann opened her first-round in the Girls Division with four birdies on the front-nine. Throughout her round, she had three sets of back-to-back birdies. The three-time Rolex Junior All-American currently holds a one-shot lead and was the only girl to shoot in the 60s. Englemann has won four times and is currently No. 12 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Zoe Antoinette Campos of Valencia, California, is just one stroke off the lead after carding a 2-under-par 70. She finished her front nine with back-to-back birdies and had three birdies on the day. Campos is No. 21 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and is a verbal commit to the University of California, Los Angeles.
Bohyun Park of (South Korea) Farmers Branch, Texas, Brianna Navarrosa of San Diego, California, and Xin (Cindy) Kou of (China) Windermere, Florida, are T3 after shooting 1-under-par 70 in the first round.
Second-round tee times will begin at 7:15 a.m. and run until 9:15 a.m. off of Nos. 1 and 10 tees at Grayhawk Golf Club on Sunday, May 26.