Summer of Aphrodite: Deng, 15, becomes first Canadian champion of U.S. Girls' Junior
Aphrodite Deng, a 15-year-old from Canada, captured the 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior on Saturday at Atlanta Athletic Club in Georgia, topping 16-year-old Xingtong Chen from Singapore 2 and 1 in the 36-hole championship final for her first USGA title and biggest win of her life. It's also the first time a Canadian has won the U.S. Girls' Junior title.
"It feels unreal, and I can't believe it," she told NBC Sports' Kay Cockerill. "It was really hard to keep the lead, especially the last few holes because I got really tired. During my break, I just rested well."
Deng led 4 up after the morning 18 holes on Chen, the first player from Singapore to play in the championship match of the U.S. Girls' Junior. In the afternoon, Chen won two of the first five holes to shrink her deficit to 2 down, but Deng fought back, building her lead back to 4 up with five holes to play.
But Chen wasn't done. She made birdie on the 32nd hole to win the hole and then won with par on the 34th when she was three down, forcing a 35th hole. However, both players made par on the long par-3 17th, giving Deng the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy.
"She played really solid, and it was a really good match," Deng said of Chen.
The victory for Deng is the latest in a long list of big wins this year. It started taking the title in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and followed that up with winning the Mizuho Americas Open. Now, she's a USGA champion.
Last year, the junior circuit belonged to Rianne Malixi and Asterisk Talley, who combined won three USGA championships with Malixi beating Talley in the championship finals at the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior.
2025 belongs to Aphrodite Deng, who can now try to match Malixi with a win at the U.S. Women's Amateur next month at Bandon Dunes.
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