Johns Island, South Carolina - Leigh Chien of Irvine, California, maintains her lead after the second round of the 2023 Rolex Girls Junior Championship with a score of 6-under-par 138.
The Stanford commit shot a 2-under-par 70 in Wednesday's second round to hold a one-shot lead over Megan Meng of Pennington, New Jersey. Chien, No. 9 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, had just one bogey on the day. She had a clean scorecard on the back nine, including three birdies on Nos. 11, 13 and 15.
Chien is making her second appearance at the all-girls Invitational. She is a three-time Rolex Junior All-American and is also a three-time Invitational winner. She had back-to-back titles at the KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational in 2019 and 2020. She was also a member of the winning Wyndham Cup team in 2022.
I'm feeling confident for the rest of the week. I need to play smart, my lead is only one stroke so anything can happen. Even though I didn't make as many putts today, I also didn't make as many mistakes and only had one bogey today. My irons are really strong this week so that's what I'm going for - to have more birdie looks.
Meng sits at 5-under-par 139. She finished her second round with three consecutive birdies to finish one shot behind Chien.
She is verbally committed to Northwestern and playing in her Rolex Girls Junior Championship debut.
In a tie for third place, Asterisk Talley of Chowchilla, California, and Kylie Chong of Torrance, California, have a second-round total of 2-under-par 142.
In a two-way tie for fifth place, Vanessa Zhang of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Irene Kim of Woodstock, Maryland, are 1-under-par 143.
About the Rolex Girls Junior Championship Field
Since 1992, the competition brings together one of the strongest fields in junior golf. The 2023 event will include eight of the top 20 girls in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Of the 72 player field, 54 girls have at least one career AJGA victory. Representatives from eight foreign countries and 20 U.S. states are set to compete in one of the AJGA’s most iconic all-girls events. There are also 22 players have committed verbally or with a National Letter of Intent to play college golf.
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).
The event returns to The Club at Briar's Creek for the first time since 2019. LPGA Tour rookie Alexa Pano won the 2019 Rolex Girls Junior Championship by four strokes with scores of 70-67-67-70 finish at 14-under-par 274. Pano was the youngest player to ever win an AJGA title at 12 years and 11 days at the PDQ/Philadelphia Runner Junior. She is a five-time Rolex Junior All-American.
Past champions of the Rolex Girls Junior Championship include an AJGA all-star cast: Rose Zhang (2020), Rachel Heck (2017), Alison Lee (2013), Ariya Jutanugarn (2012, 2011), Morgan Pressel (2005), Paula Creamer (2003), and Inbee Park (2002).
Schedule
The third round continues Thursday, June 22.
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