FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas- Sofia Cherif Essakali of Orlando, Florida takes the lead after round two of the Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational, shooting a 7-under-par tally.
Cherif Essakali began the round in blazing fashion with four straight birdies on the front nine. She finished the round with six birdies on the day. The Florida native is currently ranked No. 33 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings with three AJGA victories to her name and nine top-five AJGA career finishes. She believes keeping her game simple will lead to the trophy.
I'm only going to try to play as I did today and hope to play well tomorrow.
Sitting behind Cherif Essakali, Lily Peng of San Ramon, California is three shots behind after carding a 4-under-par round.
Luc Kelty and Chase Jerome continued their great play into round two and still command the lead in the Boys Division at 1-under-par.
Luc Kelty of Louisville, Kentucky sprinkled his scorecard with two birdies in the round. Kelty is competing in his first AJGA Invitational and has three top-10 AJGA career finishes.
I'm Just going to remind myself to not short side myself and have fun out there.
Chase Jerome of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada made four birdies to maintain his lead heading into the final round. Jerome is currently ranked No. 136 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings with one AJGA victory and two top-five AJGA career finishes.
Following Jerome and Kelty, Manav Bharani is in third after posting a 2-under-par round on day two.
In the boys versus girls challenge, the girls collectively shot 17-under-par to take the lead over the boys by 11 after the second round.
Tournament History
The Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational has occurred annually since 2015. In this year's event, former Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational champion, Alice Ziyi Zhao is competing in the tournament field. The Stacy Lewis All-Star Invitational was originally hosted at Fayetteville Club before returning to Blessings Golf Club in 2017.
About 2024 Player Field
In the 2024 Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational field, 11 juniors are currently ranked inside the top-100 of the Rolex AJGA Rankings:
No. 6 Aphrodite Deng of Short Hills, New Jersey
No. 19 Alice Ziyi Zhao of Irvine, California
No. 34 Sofia Cherif Essakali of Orlando, Florida
No. 41 Lily Peng of San Ramon, California
No. 43 Eliana Saga of Stevenson Ranch, California
No. 50 Samantha Chiou of Orinda, California
No. 55 Ruihan Kendria Wang of Bellevue, Washington
No. 64 Angela Zhang of Bellevue, Washington
No. 67 Clara Ding of White Rock, British Columbia
No. 73 Chase Hughes of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
No. 87 Ava Zhang of Lake Mary, Florida