Stanford, CA- Sophie Zhang-Murphy of Saratoga, California, leads the Mariah Stackhouse Girls Invitational by one stroke after carding a 3-under-par 68 in round one.
Zhang-Murphy, started the 2022 event off on a steady pace going even par through the first seven holes. The 18 year-old junior saw movement on the back nine. The highlight of her day came on hole 12 when she carded an eagle to start her climb to the top. It was the back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 that pushed her to the top of the leaderboard.
The senior committed to Princeton University has quite the AJGA resume. Zhang-Murphy has captured Rolex All-American honors twice in 2020 and 2021 along with a Rolex Scholastic All-American honor in 2021. With those accolades comes three AJGA victories at the 2020 UHY / The First Tee of Greater Baltimore Junior Championship, 2020 Under Armour® / Alison Lee Championship presented by Irvine Technology Corporation, and the 2019 AJGA Junior at Palo Alto. Zhang-Murphy is searching for her first AJGA Invitational win.
Ashley Yun of West Covina, California, and Olivia Duan of Cupertino, California, finished the first 18 holes T2 at 2-under-par 69. Each junior recorded four birdies, Yun had back-to-back birdies on Nos.11 and 12 while Duan went back-to-back on Nos. 1 and 2.
Duan, a 2024 graduate is shining early in her short AJGA career. She has nine career top-10 finishes including a runner-up finish at the 2021 KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational. Yun, a verbal commit to Northwestern College has four career AJGA victories including one invitational win at the 2020 AJGA Junior All-Star Invitational.
Larissa Carrillo of Saltillo, Mexico, Sara Tomaszewski of Cancun, Mexico, Brooke Oberparleiter of Jupiter, Florida, Karen Tsuru of Carlsbad, California, Michelle Liu of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Catherine Park of Irvine, California, all finished T4 to round out the top-5 at 1-under-par 70.
Second round tee times will run from 8:30-10:20 a.m. off Nos. 1 and 10 at Stanford Golf Course on February 20, 2022.
About the Host
Stackhouse joins fellow LPGA Tour players Annika Sorenstam, Alison Lee, Sung Hyun Park, Se Ri Pak, Stacy Lewis, Albane Valenzuela and Marina Alex, in lending her name to a top junior golf tournament in 2021. Stackhouse, the 2011 Player Representative to the AJGA Board of Directors, had an impressive junior career. The four-time AJGA champion earned Rolex Junior All-America honors three times, including a first team appearance in 2011. Stackhouse finished T2 in the 2011 edition of the event she now sponsors.