Zweig breaks through with four-shot win in AJGA's Diamond Resorts Annika Invitational

    Avery Zweig of McKinney, Texas is one of those young kids -- looks like she’ll turn 14 this week – who just keeps getting better and better.

   One of the subjects of “The Short Game,” the 2013 documentary on junior golf produced by Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Zweig arrived at the Diamond Resorts Annika Invitational, presented by Rolex, last weekend without a big American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) victory on her resume.

   Consider that box checked. After a slow start with a 2-over-par 74 over the 6,488-yard, par-72 Slammer & Squire Course at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla., Zweig fired a scintillating 5-under 67 in Sunday’s second round and finished up with a 4-under 68 in the Martin Luther King Day windup to cruise to a four-shot victory with a 7-under 209 total.

   “It feels great to win and to do it here,” Zweig told the AJGA website after finally breaking through. “It’s been a pleasure to play this course the past five days and Annika (Sorenstam) being here was a plus. It’s going to take a bit for this to sink in.”

   Zweig came into the final round trailing Kendall Todd of Goodyear, Ariz. by a shot as Todd added a 3-under 69 to her opening-round 71 to stand at 4-under 140 through 36 holes.

   But Zweig birdied half of the first 12 holes to take control of the tournament. Zweig made a bogey at the first hole, but after birdies at two and six got her into red figures for the round, Zweig ripped off three straight birdies at eight, nine and 10. She dropped a 35-foot birdie bomb to get the birdie at the ninth.

   Zweig then birdied the 12^th hole and was easily able to overcome the only other blemish on her scorecard, a bogey at 15, to leave the rest of the field in her wake as AJGA kicked off its invitational season for 2021 at the World Golf Village.

   Todd, who will join the UNLV program at the end of the summer, closed with a 1-over 73 to finish alone in second place with a 3-under 213 total.

   Megha Ganne, the Holmdel, N.J. standout who reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur two summers ago at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss., matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish alone in third place, two shots behind Todd at 1-under 215.

   Ganne, who plans to join the powerhouse program at Stanford in the summer of 2022, added a 3-under 69 in Sunday’s second round to her opening-round 74. Ganne matched her performance in the Annika Invitational from a year ago when she finished in a tie for third place.

   Hyo Joon Jang, a South Korean who has made Bluffton, S.C. her home base in the States, was another shot behind Ganne in fourth place at even-par 216. After opening with a 2-over 74, Jang registered a pair of 1-under 71s to get it back to even-par for the tournament.

   An interesting name popped in the group tied for 24^th place at 11-over 227, that of Faith Choi of Frederick, Md. Choi first appeared on my radar when she and her pal Aneka Seumanutafa of Emmitsburg, Md. earned the lone spot up for grabs in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Kennett Square Golf & Country Club in the fall of 2018.

   The following spring, Seumanutafa, in the midst of a breakout freshman season at Ohio State, and Choi teamed up to grab medalist honors in qualifying for match play in the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. Choi will follow her pal Seumanutafa to Columbus at the end of the summer.

   In the Annika Invitational, Choi bounced back from an opening-round 81 with a 3-over 75 in the second round before finishing up with a solid 1-under 71 to finish at 11-over.

   Ganne was the leading lady in a solid cast of Jersey girls who teed it up in the Annika Invitational.

   Megan Meng, a Class of 2024 entry from Pennington, was a shot behind Choi in the group tied for 27^th place at 12-over 228. Meng, who captured the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship last summer at Lebanon Country Club, closed with a 1-over 73 at Slammer & Squire.

   Eunice Kim, a senior at Phillips Exeter Academy and the reigning New Jersey State Golf Association (NJSGA) Women’s Amateur champion, finished among the group tied for 38^th place at 231. Eunice Kim carded a pair of 76s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 79.

   Three Jersey girls -- eighth-grader Angelina Kim of Tenafly, Lenape High freshman Angelina Tolentino and Ridge High sophomore Katie Li – were among six players tied for 50^th place at 236.

   Angelina Kim opened with an 81 and added her best round of the weekend with a 77 in Sunday’s second round before closing with a 78. Tolentino also struggled in the opening round with an 82 and cut six shots off that with a 4-over 76 in Sunday’s second round before finishing up with a 78. Li added an 81 to her opening-round 80 before closing with a solid 3-over 75.

   Katherine Lu, a Plainsboro resident who won the NJSGA Junior Girls’ Championship last summer, finished alone in 67^th place at 245. Lu, who will join the Michigan State program at the end of the summer, struggled in the opening round with an 87 before posting a pair of 79s.

   One of Pennsylvania’s top junior players, North East junior Lydia Swan, who won the 2019 PIAA Class AA crown, finished in a tie for 61^st place at 239. Swan, who finished in third place in defense of her Class AA state crown in October at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County, opened with a 78 and added an 82 in Sunday’s second round before finishing up with a 79.

   Top junior boys and girls players also teed it up over the Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend a little south of St. Augustine in Lake Mary, Fla. in the Sean Foley Performance Junior Championship at Timacuan Golf Club.

   It turned into a coming-out party for Filip Jakubcik of the Czech Republic. The Class of ’22 competitor, who is based in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., was playing in his first AJGA event and rolled to an impressive eight-shot victory.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 72 over the 6,888-yard, par-72 Timacuan layout, Jakubcik unfurled a brilliant, six-birdie, no-bogey 6-under 66 in Sunday’s second round to take control of the tournament. Jakubcik closed with a 1-under 71 for a 7-under 209 total.

   Shawn Lalmoni, another Class of ’22 entry playing not far from his Orlando home, was the runnerup with a 1-over 217 total. Lalmoni, an impressive winner of the Jones Cup at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course in Sea Island, Ga. last month, opened with a 74 and added a 1-under 71 before closing with an even-par 72.

   Tyler Stachkunas, an Oxbridge Academy senior from Lake Worth, Fla., was a shot behind Lalmoni in third place at 2-over 218. Stachkunas actually led Jakubcik by a shot with his opening round of 1-under 71. Stachkunas added a 3-over 75 in Sunday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Shady Side Academy senior Adam Lauer sandwiched an 81 in Sunday’s second round with a pair of 76s to finish alone in 39^th place at 17-over 233. Lauer finished in a tie for sixth place in October’s PIAA Class AAA Championship after finishing in a tie for fifth as a junior in 2019.

   On the girls side, Yana Wilson, a Class of ’24 entry from Henderson, Nev., was solid all weekend, closing with a 2-over 74 Monday to earn a two-shot victory with a 3-over 219 total over a Tamacuan layout that measured 6,204 yards for the gals.

   Wilson, an impressive six-shot winner of the Girls 13-and-under Division in the inaugural Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship in November at Koasati Pines at the Coushatta Resort in Kinder, La., opened with a 1-over 73 before matching par with a 72 in Sunday’s second round.

   Not all the Jersey girls were in St. Augustine. Sophia Bae of Norwood, who will join the powerful Duke program later this year, was the runnerup to Wilson at Tamacuan, finishing two shots behind Wilson at 5-over 221. Bae struggled in the opening round with a 77, but bounced back with a 1-under 71 in Sunday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 73.

   Natasha Kiel of New Hope finished alone in seventh place at 12-over 228. Kiel, who will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt this summer, was a standout at the George School in New Jersey before relocating to the Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla. for her senior year.

   Kiel opened with a 79 and shaved five shots off that with a 2-over 74 in Sunday’s second round before closing with a 75.