CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - After the third round of the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, the top-ranked junior golfers in the world are 18 holes away from joining history as a champion of this storied invitational.
In the 29th year of the event, the 2020 field brings one of the strongest fields in junior golf as as the second all-girls event this season.
As of August 20, there are 11 of the top 20 players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings in the field.
1. Rose Zhang of Irvine, California (2021)
4. Bohyun Park of (South Korea) Farmers Branch, Texas (2021)
6. Amanda Sambach of Davidson, North Carolina (2021)
7. Michelle Zhang of Plano, Texas (2022)
8. Lynn Lim of Gallatin, Tennessee (2022)
11. Taylor Kehoe of Strathroy, Ontario (2022)
14. Mackenzie Lee of North Little Rock, Arkansas (2022)
15. Katherine Schuster of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina (2021)
16. Megha Ganne of Holmdel, New Jersey (2022)
17. Bailey Shoemaker of West Edmeston, New York (2023)
19. Sophie Zhang-Murphy of Saratoga, California (2022)
Zhang has held the top spot in the Rolex AJGA Rankings for 79-straight weeks. As the 2019 Rolex Junior Player of the Year, Zhang has seven AJGA titles and holds a four-stroke lead heading into the final round at Dalhousie Golf Club.
- Zhang is joined by elite company with the remaining top-10 players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings combining for 26 AJGA titles.
- At. No. 5 and No. 11, Sambach and Kehoe each have five AJGA championships all-time. Kehoe has two wins this season which she earned from a combined victory of 11 strokes.
- This is Kehoe's second-straight season with multiple wins.
- Lee and Zhang-Murphy also have multiple wins this season. Lee earned her first career title at the 2020 Callaway Golf Texas Junior Open and then again the following week at the Bob Estes Junior Championship. Zhang-Murphy added two wins to bring her total to four titles since 2017.
- Lim, Sambach and Zhang are the only players with invitational titles to their name. Lim won the 2019 AJGA Junior All-Star Invitational at Reynolds Lake Oconee. Sambach won the 2018 Rolex Tournament of Champions and Zhang has five invitational titles.
- Out of the 71 players in the field, 50 are in the top 100 of the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Rolex Girls Junior Championship History
The Rolex Girls Junior Championship has occurred annually since 1992, changing host venues each year. Noteworthy courses include: LPGA International – Champions and Legends Course (2002-2005), Long Cove Club (2010), The Country Club of North Carolina – Dogwood Course (2015), and Promontory Club – Dye Canyon Course (2018).
Dalhousie Golf Club also hosted the 2013 Rolex Girls Junior Championship, crowning current LPGA Tour player Alison Lee as the champion with a score of 7-under-par 281. Lee went on to win the 2013 Rolex Tournament of Champions and was also named the 2013 Rolex Junior Player of the Year in her last year of junior golf before starting her stand-out college career at UCLA.
Past champions of the Rolex Girls Junior Championship include an AJGA all-star cast: Rachel Heck (2017), Alison Lee (2013), Ariya Jutanugarn (2012, 2011), Morgan Pressel (2005), Paula Creamer (2003), and Inbee Park (2002).
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Rolex, a Swiss watch manufacture headquartered in Geneva, is recognized the world over for its expertise and the quality of its products. Its Oyster Perpetual and Cellini watches, all certified as Superlative Chronometers for their precision, performance and reliability, are symbols of excellence, elegance and prestige. The word “Perpetual” is inscribed on every Rolex Oyster. But more than just a word on a dial, it is a philosophy that embodies the company’s vision and values. Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of the company, instilled a notion of perpetual excellence that would drive the company forward. This led Rolex to pioneer the development of the wristwatch and numerous major watchmaking innovations, such as the Oyster, the first waterproof wristwatch, launched in 1926, and the Perpetual rotor self-winding mechanism, invented in 1931. Rolex has registered over 500 patents in the course of its history. A truly integrated and independent manufacturing company, Rolex designs, develops and produces in-house the essential components of its watches, from the casting of the gold alloys to the machining, crafting, assembly and finishing of the movement, case, dial and bracelet. Furthermore, Rolex is actively involved in supporting the arts and culture, sport and exploration, as well as those who are devising solutions to preserve the planet.