McCrery, Deng in top 10 at halfway point of Rolex Tournament of Champions in San Antonio

 

   A couple of winners of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ Championship of recent vintage are in the top 10 at the halfway point of the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the marquee event on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit at TPC San Antonio’s Canyons Course in San Antonio, Texas.

   Avery McCrery, the 2020 WGAP Junior Girls winner at Sandy Run Country Club while playing out of Wilmington Country Club, made a late charge in Monday’s second round and is in a tie for seventh place at even-par 144 after two tours of the Canyons Course, which measures 6,142 yards for the girls and plays to a par of 72.

   Aphrodite Deng, the 2023 WGAP Junior girls winner at the Moorestown Field Club and the defending champion in the Rolex Tournament of Champions, climbed the leaderboard with a sparkling 3-under-par 69 that left her among a trio of players tied for ninth place at 1-over 145. Deng, a Class of 2028 competitor, is a native of Canada who has made Short Hills, N.J. her home base.

   Scarlett Schremmer of Birmingham, Ala. is threatening to turn the battle for the title into a runaway as she blitzed the Canyons Course with a sizzling 6-under 66 Monday and will take a four-shot lead into Tuesday’s third round against an international field of junior standouts.

   McCrery, who will join the program at Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke at the end of next summer, turned heads when she captured the title in the Junior Girls PGA Championship, one of the major national events for junior golfers, in July at Congressional Country Club’s Blue Course in Bethesda, Md.

   McCrery was one of the top scholastic players in Delaware when she was at the Tower Hill School, but moved to the ICL Academy, an on-line arm of AJGA, in order to integrate her schooling with her golf ambitions.

   After opening with a 1-over 73 Sunday, McCrery, who began her second round off the 10^th tee, got off to a slow start with bogeys at the 12^th and 16^th holes on the Canyons Course’s incoming nine.

   But a burst of three birdies in a four-hole stretch at the fifth, sixth and eighth holes enabled McCrery to get it into red figures for the round as she recorded a 1-under 71 to get it to even-par for the tournament.

   Deng was a stunning winner by five shots as a 13-year-old a year ago at TPC San Antonio.

   She struggled in the opening round with a 4-over 76, but Deng was bogey-free in a steady round that got her back in the hunt at 1-over. Also starting off the 10^th tee, Deng opened with a birdie at 10, added birdies at 15 and two and then rattled off seven straight pars to finish her round.

   The Rolex Tournament of Champions has become a Thanksgiving week staple on the golf scene. The 72-hole test will conclude Wednesday, the eve of Thanksgiving.

   Schremmer, who will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Texas A&M at the end of next summer, first appeared on my radar when she lost in the final of the Ione D. Jones/Doherty Championship, a match-play stop on the unofficial Orange Blossom Tour, in January at Coral Ridge Country Club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to Maisie Filler, who was in the middle of a really strong senior season at Florida.

   After opening with a 3-under 69 Sunday, Schremmer really got it going in Monday’s second round.

   After making a bogey at the 10^th hole, her first of the day, Schremmer proceeded to rip off eight birdies in the next 14 holes to get it 7-under for her round. She made birdies at the 11^th, 12^th, 14^th, 15^th, first, third, fifth and sixth holes.

   A bogey at the eighth hole did nothing to dim the luster of Schremmer’s 6-under round as she took command of the girls division with a 9-under 135 total.

   Schremmer reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in July at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif.

   Eliana Saga, a Class of ’27 entry out of Stevenson Ranch, Calif., was Schremmer’s closest pursuer as she signed for a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round for a 5-under 139 total that left her four shots behind the front-runner.

   Saga had grabbed the lead after carding a 4-under 68 in Sunday’s opening round.

   Amelie Zalsman, a Class of ’27 competitor out of Saint Petersburg, Fla. and Natalie Yen of West Linn, Ore. are tied for third place, each landing two shots behind Saga at 3-under 141.

   Zalsman added a solid 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round to her opening-round 71. Yen, who will join Schremmer as a freshman at Texas A&M next summer, had matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a sparkling 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round.

   Shauna Liu, a Class of ’27 entry from Canada, matched par with a 72 in Monday’s second round after opening with a 2-under 70 and was alone in fifth place at 2-under 142 total.

   On the boys side, Michael Riebe of Encinitas, Calif. built on his lead with a second straight 4-under 68 and will take a three-shot advantage into Tuesday’s third round.

   Riebe, who will join the program at powerful Vanderbilt in the SEC next summer, got off to a blazing start Monday as, beginning his round off the 10^th tee, he rattled off birdies at the 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 13^th holes.

   After making a bogey at the 16^th hole, Riebe immediately got that shot back with a birdie at 17. He made a bogey at the third hole, but finished his round with a flourish, making his sixth birdie of the day at nine that left him with a 36-hole total of 8-under 136.

   Edan Cui of Atherton, Calif. and Tyler Watts of Huntsville, Ala. were Riebe’s closest pursuers as each came on strong with a 5-under 67 that left them three shots behind Riebe at 5-under 139.

   Cui, who will join the program at ACC power Stanford next summer, had matched par in the opening round with a 72.

   Watts, who will join the Tennessee program in the SEC in the summer of 2026, also matched par in the opening round with a 72. Watts lost in the final of last summer’s U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

   Joshua Kim of Danville, Calif. was a shot behind Cui and Watts in fourth place with a 4-under 140 total after posting a second straight 2-under 70. Kim will join the program at newly minted Big Ten power UCLA next summer.

   Miles Russell, the Class of ’27 phenom from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., was a shot behind Kim in fifth place as he added a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 71 for a 3-under 141 total.

   Russell played the weekend and finished in a tie for 20^th place in the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. in April and teed it up in the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Country Club in July. He returned to the Detroit area a couple of weeks later and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills.