BOWLING GREEN, Florida - Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nevada, wins the fourth AJGA Girls Invitational.
Overnight leader Wilson, followed up her low second round score of 7-under-par 66 with a 3-under-par 70. Ranked at No. 2 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, this is Wilson's second Invitational win of the year.
Winning has been the highlight of the week. This is all I work for. I practice every single day because I want to experience this feeling and getting to hold the trophy after playing with tough competition.
Wilson fired a 3-under-par 70 in her first round with four birdies. She jumped up six spots on the leaderboard after firing a stellar second round of 7-under-par 66. Her low round included eight birdies. Wilson's three-day total of 13-under-par 206 matches 2022 Champion, Elizabeth Rudisill's three-day total.
Wilson's top AJGA finishes this year include a third place finish at the PING Heather Farr Classic, a runner-up finish at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship and a win at the inaugural Mizuho Americas Open. The Rolex Junior All-American is verbally committed to play at the University of Oregon. She is also on the PING Junior Solheim Cup team that will start in a few weeks.
It is definitely giving me a lot of confidence. I know the European players are really good, I played a couple of them two years ago at the Solheim Cup in Ohio. I feel like my game is ready to play against them so I am very excited.
Her front nine during the final round included birdies on the par-4 No. 3 and the par-4 No. 6. Wilson's bogey-free round concluded with a birdie on the par-5 No. 18.
About AJGA Girls Invitational
Streamsong Resort is the only location in the world where players can experience three distinct golf courses designed by these legendary architects—Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Tom Doak, and Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. Streamsong Red (Coore-Crenshaw), Streamsong Blue (Doak) and Streamsong Black (Hanse-Wagner) are three of the most highly acclaimed and widely pursued golf courses in the game today. Revered by golfers as a bucket-list destination, Streamsong Resort rivals the greatest golf venues in the world. The Black Course, home of this year's event, was named No. 25 in Golfweek's "Top 100 Courses You Can Play" list.
The 2023 event includes 45 juniors inside the top-100 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. Of the 72 player field, 16 girls are Rolex Junior All-Americans. Representatives from seven foreign countries and eight Floridians are competing in the field. There are also 23 players that have committed verbally to play college golf.
In second place, Kaili Xiao of Chino Hills, California, fired the low final round score of 6-under-par 67 to jump up three spots on the leaderboard. Xiao's final round is highlighted by an eagle on the par-4 No. 14. She finished the event at 10-under-par 209. Competing in her first Invitational, Xiao has won two AJGA events this year. She won the Victoria Texas Preview and the Colorado Springs Junior presented by Centura Health. Xiao is ranked No. 70 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Two juniors finished in third place, Kylie Chong of Torrance, California, and Mi Li of Kissimmee, Florida. Chong fired six birdies en route to a 4-under-par 69 in the final round. Li birdied No. 18 to finish the round with an even-par 73 and at 7-under-par 212 for the event.
Six girls tied for fifth place and round out the top-10. Kennedy Swedick of Albany, New York, also tied for the low final round with a 6-under-par 67. These are the girls that round out the top-10 at 6-under-par 213:
- Kennedy Swedick of Albany, New York
- Angela (Yilin) Liu of Irvine, California
- Yujie Liu of Encinitas, California
- Avery McCrery of Wilmington, Delaware
- Charlotte Cantonis of Tampa, Florida
- Emerson Blair of West Point, Mississippi
