McCrery trails by five after opening round of AJGA's Rolex Tournament of Champions

 

   Avery McCrery, a Wilmington, Del. native, stamped herself as one of the country’s top junior players when she captured the title in the Girls Junior PGA Championship, one of the major national tournaments for juniors, in July at Congressional Country Club’s Blue Course in Bethesda, Md.

   McCrery had made the decision to leave Tower Hill School, where she had been one of the top scholastic players in Delaware, behind and finish high school in the ICL Academy, an on-line arm of the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).

   The IGL Academy integrates McCrery’s schooling with her desire to take her golf game to a higher level. Her victory in the Girls Junior PGA Championship and her commitment to join the program at Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke next summer would seem to indicate she made the right choice.

   McCrery carded a 1-over-par 73 Sunday in the opening round of AJGA’s marquee event, the Rolex Tournament of Champion, at TPC San Antonio’s Canyons Course in San Antonio, Texas.

   That left McCrery in a tie for 10^th place with four other players, five shots behind Eliana Saga, a class of 2027 competitor out of Stevenson Ranch, Calif. who opened with a sparkling 4-under 68 over a Canyons Course layout that measured 6,242 for the girls and played to a par of 72.

   It was a patient round for McCrery, who made a couple of early bogeys at the second and seventh holes before getting a shot back with a birdie at eight. She fell back to 3-over for her round with bogeys at the ninth and 11^th holes before making back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13.

   McCrery made five straight pars to close out her round and sneak into the top 10 on the leaderboard at 1-over.

   The Rolex Tournament of Champions, a 72-hole test, has settled into a traditional spot in Thanksgiving week with the event rounding up Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.

   Saga made a birdie at the first hole followed by a bogey at two to open her round. Saga made back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh holes before falling back to 1-under for her round with a bogey at 11. Saga, however, finished strong, rattling off three straight birdies at the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th holes to get it to 4-under.

   Scarlett Schremmer of Birmingham, Ala. was a shot behind Saga in second place with a solid 3-under 69. Schremmer, who will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Texas A&M next summer, reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship last summer at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif.

   Shauna Liu, a Class of ’27 competitor from Canada, and Nikki Oh, a Class of ’26 entry out of Torrance, Calif., shared third place following Sunday’s opening round, each landing on 2-under 70, a shot behind Schremmer.

   Amelie Zalsman, a Class of ’27 entry from Saint Petersburg, Fla., and Jude Lee, a Class of ’26 competitor out of Walnut, Calif, were in a tie for fifth place, each posting a 1-under 71.

   Aphrodite Deng, who scored a stunning five-shot victory in this event a year ago as just a 13-year-old, struggled in the opening round with a 4-over 76. Deng is a Class of ’28 entry and is a native of Canada who has made Short Hills, N.J. her home base in the States.

   Deng opened defense of her title with a birdie at the first hole, but couldn’t find another birdie while making bogeys at two, five, 11, 13 and 16.

   McCrery and Deng are both past winners of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Girls’ Championship, McCrery capturing the title in 2020 at Sandy Run Country Club while playing out of Wilmington Country Club, and Deng storming to the WGAP Junior Girls’ crown in 2023 at the Moorestown Field Club.

   On the boys side, Michael Riebe of Encinitas, Calif. holed out for eagle on the first hole and never looked back on his way to a sparkling 4-under 68 that gave him a two-shot lead following the opening round.

   Riebe, who will join the program at SEC power Vanderbilt next summer, followed up his eagle at the par-4 first hole with birdies at four and six. He cooled off a little with bogeys at the seventh and eighth holes, but got back on track with birdies at 10 and 12 to get it back to 4-under.

   Joshua Kim of Danville, Calif. was alone in second place as the posted a 2-under 70 over a Canyons Course layout that measured 7,106 yards for the guys.

   Miles Russell, the little left-hander from Jacksonville Beach, Fla. who finished in a tie for 20^th place in the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic as a 15-year-old last spring, headed a group of three players tied for third place at 1-under 71, a shot behind Kim.

   Russell reached the quarterfinals in last summer’s U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

   Joining Russell, a Class of ’27 competitor, at 1-under were defending champion Tyler Mawhinney, a Class of ’26 entry out of Fleming Island, Fla. and Ronin Bonerjee, another Class of ’27 guy from Irvine, Calif.