Latest news with #AJGAJuniorPlayers
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
It's Scheffler versus McIlroy at U.S. Junior Amateur – well, sort of
It's Scottie Scheffler versus Rory McIlroy at the 77th U.S. Junior Amateur. Well, sort of. The top two ranked players in junior golf, No. 1 Miles Russell and No. 2 Luke Colton, will face off in one of four quarterfinal matches on Friday morning at Trinity Forest in Dallas. Russell, a 16-year-old from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, survived a scare in Wednesday's first round of match play, rallying from 2 down through three holes to win in extra holes. He made easier work of his opponents on Thursday, beating Lucas Latimer, 3 and 2, before taking down Miguel Garcia, 4 and 2. Colton, 17 years old and from nearby Frisco, rolled Texas A&M signee Shiv Parmar, 6 and 5, in the Round of 32 and then eliminated 15-year-old Chase Bauer, 3 and 1, to earn himself a second date with Russell in about a month. Colton and Russell last played a match against each other in the Round of 16 at the North and South Amateur in June. Colton won that match in 21 holes. Need further proof that this encore will be closely contested, look at these numbers: • In 48 common rounds since the start of 2024, Colton and Russell are 21-21-6 against each other • During that same span, they both boast 70.1 scoring averages It's possible that Friday's match also helps decide the 10-man U.S. Walker Cup team that will compete at Cypress Point this September. Russell, at No. 18 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, had the greater shot starting this week, but the 26th-ranked Colton's stock would shoot up should he beat Russell and ultimately win this championship. That match begins at 8:30 a.m. ET. In Friday's other matchups: Hamilton Coleman of Augusta, Georgia, who won last year's AJGA Junior Players in a playoff over Blades Brown, will meet Sohan Patel, who joins fellow lefties Russell and Colton in the top half of the bracket. Just two lefties have ever won the U.S. Junior – Brian Harman (2003) and Cory Whitsett (2007). Coleman won each of his last three holes against the red-hot Tyler Watts (also a lefty) in a 2-and-1 win in the Round of 16. England's Ben Bolton will play China's Qiyou Wu. No Englishman has ever won, while Wu would be the second champion from China, following Wenyi Ding in 2022. Wu needed 21 holes to eliminate Ronin Banerjee, who on Wednesday won his first-round match, 9 and 8, tying the championship record. Nicholas Gross, a rising sophomore at Alabama, draws Vietnam's Nguyen Anh Minh, who is currently ranked No. 52 in WAGR.
NBC Sports
5 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
It's Scheffler versus McIlroy at U.S. Junior Amateur – well, sort of
It's Scottie Scheffler versus Rory McIlroy at the 77th U.S. Junior Amateur. Well, sort of. The top two ranked players in junior golf, No. 1 Miles Russell and No. 2 Luke Colton, will face off in one of four quarterfinal matches on Friday morning at Trinity Forest in Dallas. Russell, a 16-year-old from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, survived a scare in Wednesday's first round of match play, rallying from 2 down through three holes to win in extra holes. He made easier work of his opponents on Thursday, beating Lucas Latimer, 3 and 2, before taking down Miguel Garcia, 4 and 2. Colton, 17 years old and from nearby Frisco, rolled Texas A&M signee Shiv Parmar, 6 and 5, in the Round of 32 and then eliminated 15-year-old Chase Bauer, 3 and 1, to earn himself a second date with Russell in about a month. Colton and Russell last played a match against each other in the Round of 16 at the North and South Amateur in June. Colton won that match in 21 holes. Need further proof that this encore will be closely contested, look at these numbers: • In 48 common rounds since the start of 2024, Colton and Russell are 21-21-6 against each other • During that same span, they both boast 70.1 scoring averages It's possible that Friday's match also helps decide the 10-man U.S. Walker Cup team that will compete at Cypress Point this September. Russell, at No. 18 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, had the greater shot starting this week, but the 26th-ranked Colton's stock would shoot up should he beat Russell and ultimately win this championship. That match begins at 8:30 a.m. ET. In Friday's other matchups: Hamilton Coleman of Augusta, Georgia, who won last year's AJGA Junior Players in a playoff over Blades Brown, will meet Sohan Patel, who joins fellow lefties Russell and Colton in the top half of the bracket. Just two lefties have ever won the U.S. Junior – Brian Harman (2003) and Cory Whitsett (2007). Coleman won each of his last three holes against the red-hot Tyler Watts (also a lefty) in a 2-and-1 win in the Round of 16. England's Ben Bolton will play China's Qiyou Wu. No Englishman has ever won, while Wu would be the second champion from China, following Wenyi Ding in 2022. Wu needed 21 holes to eliminate Ronin Banerjee, who on Wednesday won his first-round match, 9 and 8, tying the championship record. Nicholas Gross, a rising sophomore at Alabama, draws Vietnam's Nguyen Anh Minh, who is currently ranked No. 52 in WAGR.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Miles Russell's victorious stretch continues with come-from-behind win at Sage Valley
Miles Russell just keeps winning. The 16-year-old phenom from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, captured the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley on Saturday in Graniteville, South Carolina. The victory marked Russell's fourth straight against junior competition. Advertisement He's also won in four out of his past five amateur starts, including the South Beach International Amateur. He was third at the Jones Cup during that stretch and hasn't finished outside the top 10 in a non-pro tournament since last summer's AJGA Junior Players, where he tied for 16th. Russell began the final round at Sage Valley trailing leader Joshua Bai, a Florida signee from New Zealand, by four shots. And through nine holes, Russell was three back of Bai, who went out in 1-under 35. However, Bai bogeyed three of his first five holes on the back before double-bogeying two of his last three to fall back to solo third. Jackson Byrd, the son of former PGA Tour player Jonathan Byrd, pushed to 13 under after four birdies in his first 13 holes and seemed to be on his way to slipping on the gold winner's jacket. But Byrd, too, slipped up, playing Nos. 14-17 in a combined 6 over. He ended up two shots back of Russell, who carded just two bogeys in his final 36 holes; Russell bogeyed the last on Saturday but still shot a third straight 2-under 70 to finish at 9 under. Charlie Woods, who received an invite into the 36-player field despite being ranked significantly worse in the two national junior rankings, posted a respectable T-25 finish at 11 over. He beat reigning U.S. Junior champion Trevor Gutschewski by six shots. Advertisement Canada's Aphrodite Deng ran away with the girls division, beating China's Yujie Liu by six shots at 7 under. Kai Trump, the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, finished 24th out of 24 competitors, 22 shots back of her closest opponent. Russell's victory, which puts him alongside past champions such as Scottie Scheffler, Joaquin Niemann, Akshay Bhatia and Austin Eckroat, further improves his chances to make Walker Cup history. Should Russell qualify for this year's match at Cypress Point, he will become the event's youngest competitor ever, breaking the record held by Scotland's Connor Graham by four days. Russell is currently the 24th-ranked American in WAGR, though he has at least seven players ahead of him who are expected to turn pro this summer. Ten players, including at least one mid-amateur, will earn places on captain Nathan Smith's squad, which figures to already have at least two locks in Auburn's Jackson Koivun and Virginia's Ben James. Texas' Tommy Morrison and mid-amateur Evan Beach have strong chances to make the team as well, while Vanderbilt's Jackson Van Paris and Auburn's Brendan Valdes, both seniors, attended last December's practice session and would be candidates provided they remain amateur. The last high-schooler to represent the Americans in a Walker Cup was Bhatia in 2019. Before that, it was Jordan Spieth and Patrick Rodgers in 2011.
NBC Sports
23-03-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Miles Russell's victorious stretch continues with come-from-behind win at Sage Valley
Miles Russell just keeps winning. The 16-year-old phenom from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, captured the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley on Saturday in Graniteville, South Carolina. The victory marked Russell's fourth straight against junior competition. He's also won in four out of his past five amateur starts, including the South Beach International Amateur. He was third at the Jones Cup during that stretch and hasn't finished outside the top 10 in a non-pro tournament since last summer's AJGA Junior Players, where he tied for 16th. Russell began the final round at Sage Valley trailing leader Joshua Bai, a Florida signee from New Zealand, by four shots. And through nine holes, Russell was three back of Bai, who went out in 1-under 35. However, Bai bogeyed three of his first five holes on the back before double-bogeying two of his last three to fall back to solo third. Jackson Byrd, the son of former PGA Tour player Jonathan Byrd, pushed to 13 under after four birdies in his first 13 holes and seemed to be on his way to slipping on the gold winner's jacket. But Byrd, too, slipped up, playing Nos. 14-17 in a combined 6 over. He ended up two shots back of Russell, who carded just two bogeys in his final 36 holes; Russell bogeyed the last on Saturday but still shot a third straight 2-under 70 to finish at 9 under. Charlie Woods, who received an invite into the 36-player field despite being ranked significantly worse in the two national junior rankings, posted a respectable T-25 finish at 11 over. He beat reigning U.S. Junior champion Trevor Gutschewski by six shots. Canada's Aphrodite Deng ran away with the girls division, beating China's Yujie Liu by six shots at 7 under. Kai Trump, the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, finished 24th out of 24 competitors, 22 shots back of her closest opponent. Russell's victory, which puts him alongside past champions such as Scottie Scheffler, Joaquin Niemann, Akshay Bhatia and Austin Eckroat, further improves his chances to make Walker Cup history. Should Russell qualify for this year's match at Cypress Point, he will become the event's youngest competitor ever, breaking the record held by Scotland's Connor Graham by four days. Russell is currently the 24th-ranked American in WAGR, though he has at least seven players ahead of him who are expected to turn pro this summer. Ten players, including at least one mid-amateur, will earn places on captain Nathan Smith's squad, which figures to already have at least two locks in Auburn's Jackson Koivun and Virginia's Ben James. Texas' Tommy Morrison and mid-amateur Evan Beach have strong chances to make the team as well, while Vanderbilt's Jackson Van Paris and Auburn's Brendan Valdes, both seniors, attended last December's practice session and would be candidates provided they remain amateur. The last high-schooler to represent the Americans in a Walker Cup was Bhatia in 2019. Before that, it was Jordan Spieth and Patrick Rodgers in 2011.
