U.S. Girls' Junior primer: Players to watch, TV schedule, info

NBC Sports

5 days ago

The 76th U.S. Girls' Junior begins Monday at Atlanta Athletic Club's Riverside Course in Johns Creek, Georgia.
The format will be a familiar one – 36 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday before the top 64 players advance to match play, which starts Wednesday. The 36-hole final will take place Saturday.
Here is the TV schedule (all times ET):
Friday, July 18 (Semifinals): 3 p.m.-5 p.m. (Peacock)
Friday, July 18 (Semifinals): 9 p.m.-11 p.m. (Golf Channel, Tape Delay)
Saturday, July 19 (Final): 3 p.m.-5 p.m. (Peacock)
Saturday, July 19 (Final): 9 p.m.-11 p.m. (Golf Channel, Tape Delay)
In the 156-player field are seven players ranked inside the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking, including No. 17 Asterisk Talley, who is already a USGA champion (2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball) and twice a USGA runner-up (2024 U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Amateur). Talley, 16, has also played a Curtis Cup, beating Lottie Woad in singles last year at Sunningdale, and was low amateur at last year's U.S. Women's Open.
The player who beat Talley in both of those USGA championship finals last summer, Rianne Malixi, the 18-year-old who just missed the cut in the Evian Championship, is not competing. Talley is hoping to join Malixi, JoAnne Gunderson (1956) and Peggy Conley (1964) as the only players to win a U.S. Girls' Junior the year after finishing second.
Talley's partner at the 2024 Four-Ball, Sarah Lim, is also in the field, as are this year's Four-Ball champions, Natalie Yen and Asia Young.
The average age of the field is 16.42 with the oldest competitor, South Dakota signee Morgan Rupp, turning 19 later this month, and the youngest, Bella Simoes, just weeks from her 12th birthday. Two current college players are teeing it up – Wake Forest's Chloe Kovalesky and Memphis' Claire Swathwood.
Sixteen countries are represented, including one competitor apiece from Bolivia, Lebanon, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Venezuela.
Aside from Talley, here are 10 other players to watch:
Kaya Daluwatte: The 16-year-old is Sri Lanka's top-ranked player and is playing in her first USGA championship. Her victories include last year's Nepal Amateur Open.
Aphrodite Deng: Just 15 years old, but already the second-best player in the field per WAGR, where she is ranked No. 38. She won both the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and AJGA Mizuho Americas Open earlier this year.
Nikki Oh: The daughter of teaching pro Ted Oh, the 17-year-old Oh, a member of the Class of 2026, is one of seven U.S. National Development Team members in the field. She's ranked No. 76 in WAGR and is verbally committed to Stanford.
Alexandra Phung: The 14-year-old from New York City is a two-time Drive, Chip and Putt national champion, including winning this year's 12-13 age division. Last year, she debuted on the AJGA and won the Junior All-Star at Meadowbrook in a playoff.
Victoria Richani: The 17-year-old, who now lives in Corona, California, will make history as the first player representing Lebanon to play a U.S. Girls' Junior. She was the player of the year on the Southern California Junior Tour in 2022.
Apr 1, 2025; Evans, Georgia, USA; Scarlett Schremmer, of Ala., tees off No. two during the practice round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur at Champions Retreat. Mandatory Credit: Katie Goodale - Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY NETWORK
Katie Goodale / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Scarlett Schremmer: Another U.S. National Team member, the 18-year-old Schremmer was a competitive surfer before transitioning to golf. She signed with Texas A&M last November and is the daughter of former LPGA player Patricia Ehrhart, who was low amateur at the 2022 U.S. Senior Women's Open. Schremmer advanced to the Round of 16 at both this championship and the U.S. Women's Amateur last summer.
Bella Simoes: The youngest player in the field at 11 years old, Simoes won four straight IMG Junior World Championships from 2020 to 2023. She also became the youngest to attempt to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open two years ago.
Alli Wiertel: The 16-year-old from Oswego, Illinois, is the daughter of Jason Wiertel, who caddies for Luke Clanton. Wiertel made the quarters of the Women's Western Junior last month.
Natalie Yen and Asia Young: A package deal as the reigning Four-Ball champs and fellow Oregonians, Yen is an 18-year-old from West Linn who is signed to play at Texas A&M this fall while Young is a 16-year-old from Bend. Yen won last year's AJGA Annika Invitational and was a member of the U.S. Junior Solheim Cup team. She advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Girls' Junior two years ago before losing to eventual champ Kiara Romero. Young has a couple notable junior wins this year, at the Callaway Junior at Canebrake and the Arizona Silver Belle Championship.