Deng surges to five-shot lead in Girls division with 66 in Rolex Tournament of Champions

 

   Aphrodite Deng might be one of the youngest players in the field, but she made it quite clear Tuesday that she’s in it to win it going into the final round of the marquee event on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit, the 47^th Rolex Tournament of Champions, at TPC San Antonio’s Canyons Course.

   Deng of Short Hills, N.J. via Canada carded a sizzling 6-under-par 66 over a Canyons Course layout that plays to 6,242 yards and a par of 72 for the girls that gave her a five-shot lead after 54 holes in the 72-hole stroke-play event.

   Deng is a Class of 2028 entry, an eighth-grader. She showed up at the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ Championship in July and blitzed the Moorestown Field Club layout with a 14-under 130 total for 36 holes to take the title by 12 shots.

   A couple of weeks later, Deng reached the second round of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colo.

   So, what Deng is doing in San Antonio didn’t come out of nowhere, but she is certainly cementing herself as a force to be reckoned with on the junior golf scene. She had grabbed the opening-round lead with a solid 4-under 68 before falling back a little with a 2-over 74 in Monday’s second round.

   The Canyons Course wasn’t exactly playing easy with some gusty west Texas winds making for some tough conditions.

   None of it bothered Deng, though. Entering the third round two shots out of the lead, Deng made birdies at the second, fourth, sixth and ninth holes to make the turn at 4-under 32 for her round. After a bogey at the 12^th hole, Deng’s only miscue for the day, she finished strong with birdies at 13, 15 and 18.

   It was a masterpiece of seven birdies and a bogey and left Deng with an 8-under 208 total.

   Deng’s closest pursuer was Alice Ziyi Zhao of Irvine, Calif. via China. Zhao was the 13-year-old phenom who earned co-medalist honors in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

   Zhao, a Class of ’27 entry, posted a second straight 2-under 70 and was five shots behind Deng in second place with a 3-under 213 total through 54 holes.

   Jasmine Koo of Cerritos, Calif. had carried a two-shot lead over Deng into Tuesday’s third round after tallying a 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round.

   Koo, who will join the powerhouse Southern California program at the end of next summer, couldn’t maintain her momentum in the third round as she recorded a 3-over 75 that left her two shots behind Zhao in third place with a 1-under 215 total.

   It was a nine-shot swing between Deng and Koo Tuesday with Koo suddenly finding herself seven shots behind the transplanted Jersey girl.

   Another Jersey girl, Hopewell Valley Central senior and Pennington, N.J. resident Megan Meng, struggled to an 80 in Tuesday’s third round and landed in the group tied for 21^st place at 14-over 230.

   Meng, who earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles in August, will join the program at Big Ten power Northwestern at the end of the summer.

   On the boys side, it was another tough day for Downingtown West senior Nick Gross, who had gotten off to a promising start with an opening round of 4-under 68.

   For the second straight day, Gross, a two-time winner of the District One Class AAA crown and the PIAA Class AAA champion in 2021, had an early triple bogey, this one at the par-5 second hole, and never really recovered.

   His second birdie of the day at the 15^th hole helped Gross get in with a 5-over 77 over a Canyons Course that measured 7,106 yards for the guys, leaving him alone in 13^th place at 5-over 221.

   Gross, who will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Alabama at the end of next summer, made a bogey at the third hole before a birdie at six got him to 3-over for the round. But Gross made bogeys at the 10^th, 11^th and 13^th holes before the late birdie at 15.

   If Gross can find his groove again, he has a real good chance to sneak into the top 10, matching his performance at TPC Antonio a year ago when he finished in 10^th place.

   Everybody in the boys division is chasing Kihei Akina of Kahuku, Hawaii as he posted a solid 1-under 71 that gave him a two-shot lead at 4-under 212 going into Wednesday’s final round.

   Akina emerged from a group of four players tied for the lead after two rounds, although he might have had an even more commanding lead going into the final round if he hadn’t finished up his third round with a bogey at the 17^th hole and a closing double bogey at 18.

   Before that, Akina was the best player on the Canyons Course. He made birdies at the second and fourth holes before a slight stumble with a bogey at five. Akina then ripped off birdies at 11^th, 12^th and 15^th holes to get it to 6-under for the championship before faltering at the finish.

   Akina’s closest pursuer is Gerardo Gomez of Howey-in-the-Hills Fla. via Mexico as he registered a 1-under 71 that left him two shots behind Akina at 2-under 214.

   Gomez, who reached the second round of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C. in July, will join the program at SEC power Arkansas at the end of next summer.

   Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. posted a 1-over 73 and was another two shots behind Gomez in third place at even-par 213. It was a home game for Dunham when earned runnerup honors in the Junior Players Championship, presented by Rolex, over the Labor Day weekend at the Stadium Course.

   Lake Lehman senior Michael Lugiano, who finished in a tie for second place in last month’s PIAA Class AA Championship at Penn State, struggled to an 80 that left him in the group tied for 29^th place at 229. Lugiano will join the program at ASUN power Liberty at the end of next summer.

   Episcopal Academy senior Hunter Stetson had his best round of the week, a 3-over 75, and was alone in 33^rd place with a 230 total.

   Stetson, who claimed the Champion Golfer of the Year trophy in the Inter-Ac League as the runaway winner of the points standings from the six invitationals that comprise the regular-season schedule, had bookend birdies at the first and 15^th holes around bogeys at two, three, five, eight and 13.

   Stetson, who reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Daniel Island Club, will join the program at North Carolina State in the tough Atlantic Coast Conference at the end of next summer.