In the morning 18, she was the equivalent of 9-under 62.
Rianne Malixi had to live with the sting of a heartbreaking championship-match loss in the U.S. Girls’ Junior for 363 days. However, the motivation over the last year paid off.
Malixi won the 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior on Saturday, a year after her runner-up finish in the event. She beat Asterisk Talley in the final at El Caballero in California. Malixi’s impressive 8-and-7 victory over the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champion was the largest in championship history.
“It’s hard for me to comprehend right now because everything just came in so quickly,” Malixi said. “I know being USGA champion means a lot. Being able to do that is a huge honor for me and I’m very grateful.”
Malixi, 17, lost to Kiara Romero 1 down last year in Colorado, but in this year’s championship, she made 14 birdies over 29 holes. In the morning 18, she was the equivalent of 9-under 62.
“It was such a heartbreak last year because I was so close,” Malixi said. “After that U.S. trip I just practiced a lot. I spent a lot of hours training in Manila. I sacrificed a lot of my social time, school time. Not only me, but my dad (Roy) also sacrificed a lot of time for me just to accompany me. My family had their share [of sacrifices] and I’m just really grateful for everything.”
Malixi will receive a sponsor exemption into the LPGA’s JM Eagle LA Championship that will be held at El Caballero C.C. next year due to renovations going on at nearby Wilshire C.C. She also has a likely invite to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
The 2045 U.S. Women’s Open will be the first ever held at The Country Club.
The slate of USGA championships headed to The Country Club just about has something for everyone. On Thursday, the game’s governing body announced that the historic club in Brookline, Massachusetts, will host four upcoming championships: 2030 U.S. Girls’ Junior, 2034 U.S. Amateur, 2038 U.S. Open and 2045 U.S. Women’s Open.
The Country Club has previously hosted 17 USGA championships, second only to Merion with 18. Last year, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open at The Country Club nine years after winning the U.S. Amateur there.
When the U.S. Open returns in 2038, it will mark the 125th anniversary of Francis Ouimet’s celebrated win. Ouimet became the first amateur to win the U.S. Open in 1913.
Jun 19, 2022; Brookline, Massachusetts, USA; Matthew Fitzpatrick poses with the US Open Championship Trophy after the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
Founded in 1882, The Country Club was one of five founding member clubs of the USGA. The 1902 U.S. Women’s Amateur was its first national championship. Other USGA championships played at the club include six U.S. Amateurs (1910, 1922, 1934, 1957,1982 and 2013) as well as the 1941 and 1995 U.S. Women’s Amateurs, the 1932 and 1973 Walker Cup Matches, the 1953 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the 1968 U.S. Junior Amateur. Additionally, the club was the site of the 1999 Ryder Cup.
The 2045 U.S. Women’s Open will be the first ever held at The Country Club. Earlier this year, Allisen Corpuz won the first USWO ever held at Pebble Beach.
She was lining up a putt on the 18th hole of Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A make, she would win the U.S. Girls’ Junior. A miss, her opponent, Rianne Malixi, could force extra holes.
Romero didn’t give Malixi the chance.
She drained the putt, halving the hole and winning the match 1 up to capture the 74th U.S. Girls’ Junior title. The 17-year-old incoming freshman at Oregon made only one birdie in the afternoon session of the 36-hole final, but she also had only one bogey, shooting even-par to outlast Malixi, 16, to win the title and raise the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy.
“I don’t think it has really sunk in yet,” Romero said. “I kept coming up a little short, but I continued to grind and I’m glad to get it done this time.”
With the victory, Romero also gets exemptions into the 2023 and 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateurs, the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open and 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Rianne Mikhaela Malixi, left, and Kiara Romero pose with the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy before the final match of the 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior at United States Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club (Blue Course) in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, July 22, 2023. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)
Romero finished third in the stroke-play portion and knocked out 2022 runner-up Gianna Clemente in the semifinals. Last year, Clemente topped Romero in the Round of 16.
Malixi, from the Philippines, won the first hole and maintained her lead until the 22nd when she made a bogey. She was stellar on par 3s all week, but a bogey on the par-3 13th, the 31st hole, gave Romero a 1 up lead with five to play, and the duo halved the remaining holes.
The championship was the first in USGA history to be contested on a military base.
Seeing Yana Wilson and Anna Davis on top of the leaderboard should be no surprise to those who follow junior golf.
Wilson is the defending champion at the U.S. Girls’ Junior, and she earned medalist honors this year at Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colorado, following a second-round 4-under 68 to finish at 6-under 138, one shot ahead of Davis. The winner of the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Davis is the highest-ranked player in the field and shot a second-round 1-under 71.
The two have battled plenty in recent tournaments, including Wilson holing a shot for eagle to beat Davis in a playoff at the 2022 Annika Invitational.
Yana Wilson plays with a golf ball while waiting to hit her drive off the hole 17 tee box during the second round of the 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior at United States Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club (Blue Course) in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)
Wilson, an Oregon commit, and Davis, who’s headed to Auburn, are two of the top prospects in the Class of 2024. Kiara Romero, who finished third after 36 holes of stroke play, is an incoming freshman at Oregon.
Wilson will try to become the sixth medalist to hoist the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy since 2002. She also has an opportunity to become the fourth player to repeat as U.S. Girls’ Junior champion and first since Eun Jeong Seong in 2015-16.
The cut for match play was 7 over, and exactly 64 players were inside the line. It’s the first time no playoff was needed for the final spots since 2007 at Tacoma Golf and Country Club in Lakewood, Washington.
Additionally, there was another ace Tuesday, marking the fourth of the tournament. Sophie Stevens used a 9-iron from 132 yards on the seventh hole.
The four aces surpassed the 2004 U.S. Girls’ Junior for the most in a single championship. It also matches the USGA mark for a single event with the 1989 U.S. Open at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.
Three different players carded aces in the first round of stroke play. First, Veronika Exposito of The Woodlands, Texas, flushed a 5-hybrid from 162 yards out on the third hole. Then, Emerie Schartz of Wichita, Kansas, aced the 143-yard seventh with a 7 iron. Last but not least, 2023 U.S. Women’s Open qualifier Angela Zhang essentially mimicked Schartz, using a 7 iron on the seventh.
The aces are the 23rd, 24th and 25th known holes-in-one in championship history, and they’re the first since 2021. For Schartz, it was her second competitive ace in a month.
The three holes-in-one matches the most in a single U.S. Girls’ Junior. Three were also made in 2004 at Mira Vista Golf Club in Fort Worth, Texas, including one by future U.S. Women’s Open champion Paula Creamer.
After the first round, Anna Davis, the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion, was one of four players tied for the lead after shooting a 4-under 68. She carded eight birdies in her round but also had four bogeys.
The second round of stroke play continues Tuesday. After play finishes, the field will be cut to the top 64, who will advance to match play.
The event will be the first USGA championship conducted on a military base.
It’s time again for the best girls in the world to battle it out in the biggest junior event.
The 74th U.S. Girls’ Junior begins Monday at United States Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The event will be the first USGA championship conducted on a military base. The site was originally scheduled to host in 2020, but COVID-19 canceled that championship.
Last year, Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nevada, defeated Gianna Clemente of Estero, Florida, 3 and 2, in the 36-hole championship match at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Both are back in the field this week.
Here’s everything you need to know for the 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior.
The U.S. Amateur will see the most significant changes.
Want to get into one of the United States Golf Association’s premier amateur events in 2024? The qualification process is going to look a bit different than the past.
The governing body announced Wednesday “significant modifications” to its qualifying model for the first time in 20 years. Beginning in 2024, the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls’ Junior will adjust the number of players who are exempt into the championships and expand exemption categories and adjust how it fills the remainder of the fields.
The U.S. Amateur will see the most significant changes, which will move from a one-stage, 36-hole qualifying format to a two-stage qualifying format with 45 18-hole local qualifying sites and 19 18-hole final qualifying sites to fill out the 312-person field.
The changes will allow events to retain their openness while ensuring that high-caliber players are provided ample opportunity to earn a spot in the field and that qualifying can be conducted at the highest level among growing entries and field sizes.
The USGA will increase the number of players fully exempt off the World Amateur Golf Ranking from 50 to 100. In addition, the top 600 players in the WAGR will be exempt from local qualifying.
“The openness and aspirational nature of our championships is a defining characteristic of USGA championships,” Brent Paladino, senior director of Championship Administration, said. “As the number of entries and qualifying sites have continued to increase on a yearly basis, we looked at ways to evolve our structure to ensure the long-term sustainability of qualifying without excessively burdening Allied Golf Associations (AGAs) and host clubs. These revisions will provide players with additional pathways to our championships through traditional qualifying, expanded exemption categories and performance in state, AGA, regional and national amateur championships.”
For the U.S. Women’s Amateur, the number of players exempt into the championship will increase to 50 from 25. There will be no change in qualifying structure, but the number of qualifying sites will be reduced.
For the junior championships, both exemption categories have been adjusted (top 100 from 80 for boys and top 50 from 40 for girls). In addition, the qualifying-event structure will encourage conducting join or concurrent qualifiers.
In 2022, the USGA accepted 44,737 total entries and collaborated with AGAs to conduct a combined 678 qualifiers across 15 championships. There will be a reduction of 94 qualifying sites next year.
The USGA will also lower the Handicap Index limits across all four championships and modifications to the performance policy that will be announced later.
Entries for 2024 USGA amateur championships will open next spring. The 2024 U.S. Amateur will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, with the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur coming at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 2024 U.S. Junior will be at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and the 2024 Girls’ Junior will be at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, California.
The next generation of stars duked it out at The Club at Olde Stone in the U.S. Girls’ Junior.
Yana Wilson experienced first hand how the top-ranked amateur in the world handled herself last year.
During the 72nd U.S. Girls’ Junior at Columbia Country Club in Maryland, Wilson fell to then-No.1 amateur Rose Zhang in the match play quarterfinals. Wilson then stayed an extra day and watched Zhang capture the championship.
“I wanted to watch her in the finals,” Wilson said. “And I told myself I was going to win this thing (this year).”
It’s safe to say the motivation paid off.
Wilson captured the 73rd U.S. Girls’ Junior championship at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Saturday. The 15-year-old beat Gianna Clemente 3 and 2 in the 36-hole final.
“It’s amazing. I just really want to thank Rose for that because she taught me a lot last year,” said Wilson. “I’m just really happy to be here right now.”
Zhang, who captured the NCAA individual title as a freshman at Stanford this spring, showed Wilson what it took to win on the biggest stages.
And that’s what Wilson, a native of Henderson, Nevada, needed.
After the first 18 holes, Wilson led Clemente 1 up, but she proceeded to bogey three of four holes after a lunch break. Thanks to a birdie on the par-3 third hole to win it, Wilson and Clemente were tied after 22 holes. Clemente, a 14-year-old from Estero, Florida, birdied the par-4 fifth hole to take a 1 up lead, which she held for the next three holes.
Wilson proceeded to birdie the par-5 ninth hole, bringing the match to all square with nine holes to play. Wilson won the 10th after a Clemente bogey, then Wilson made birdie on the par-3 13th to go 2 up with five to play.
Both girls drove over the short par-4 14th, but neither were able to get up and down for birdie. On the 15th, Clemente lipped out a birdie putt while Wilson connected, going 3 up with three to play.
On the par-3 16th, Wilson’s tee shot came up short and right while Clemente’s trickled over the back of the green but closer to the pin. Wilson’s first putt settled a couple feet from the hole. Clemente hit a great putt, but it came up inches short of dropping for birdie to extend the match. Wilson sunk her short putt to win the United States Golf Association championship.
“I knew I was more of a back nine player, and I knew I would come back,” Wilson said of her slow start on the second 18 holes.
Both Wilson and Clemente have earned exemptions into next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington.
Clemente joked after the match she needed to work on her putting, but she said this week was a valuable learning experience.
“I beat some amazing players this week in stroke play and match play,” Clemente said. “I just didn’t make enough putts today and hit enough greens.”
For Wilson, she also earned an exemption into the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.
“Nothing has really sunken in yet, but that honestly sounds unreal,” Wilson said. “I’m so excited.”
It’s a special feat to own a piece of USGA history. Even more special when it’s shared with a loved one.
It’s a special feat to own a piece of USGA history. Even more special when it’s shared with a loved one. Kathy and Kay Cornelius are the only mother-daughter pair to win USGA championships. Kathy, 89, won the 1956 U.S. Women’s Open and Kay, 55, became the youngest to ever win the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 1981 at age 14.
Both now live in Arizona, close to Kathy’s eldest daughter Karen, who celebrated her second birthday the day mom beat Barbara McIntire in an 18-hole playoff at Northland Country Club in Duluth, Minnesota.
“We didn’t have daycare,” said Kay of life on tour. “We walked 18 holes every day and lived and breathed every stroke.”
Photo shows Kathy Cornelius holding the trophy after winning the 1956 U.S. Women’s Open Championship which was held at Northland Country Club, Duluth, Minn. Copyright Unknown/Courtesy USGA Archives.
Kathy McKinnon grew up in Lake Worth, Florida, and at age 16, drove the 180 miles north to Lakeland, Florida, to study and play golf on the men’s team at Florida Southern College, where she subbed in when they were shorthanded. While there she fell in love with Bill Cornelius, who worked as an assistant at the city-owned Cleveland Heights Golf Course. Kathy got married and turned professional in 1953, leaving school early to pursue her passion.
“I just couldn’t resist the urge to play golf,” she said, later joining the LPGA in 1956 after giving birth to Karen. She won twice that first year, including a major.
Karen celebrates her third birthday with mom as Bonnie Bell looks on. (courtesy photo)
Karen’s best friend on tour was Bonnie Bell, daughter of Peggy. Kay, 12 years younger, was pals with Judy Rankin’s son Tuey. The kids were welcome in the locker room most of the day, Kathy recalled, and on occasion, they even went inside the ropes during a practice round to hit a shot. Patty Berg’s weekly clinic was a must-see event. Karen and Bonnie watched it so many times they could recite every word.
They traveled strictly by car in those early years because the money they played for didn’t warrant traveling by plane. And besides, Kathy said, there were toys to contend with.
Kathy won seven times on the LPGA in a career spanning nearly 30 years. Bill traveled with the family most of the time, working a part-time job for Golf Pride grips while on the tour.
“I look back at my parents,” said Kay, “and for my dad, in that generation, to let mom be the centerpiece of the family and supporting what she did … that was unheard of.”
Kay and Kathy Cornelius are the only mother-daughter pair to win USGA championships. (courtesy photo)
When Kay was 4 years old her parents opened up a driving range in Litchfield Park, Arizona, and she had unlimited access to range balls every day. Kay wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps, but it was her father who taught her the game. It’s impossible to measure what she picked up from watching the likes of Nancy Lopez, Judy Rankin, Pat Bradley, Kathy Whitworth and Sandra Palmer all those years.
“Kay hit it high and long for her age and her build,” said Kathy. “She wasn’t extremely tall, she wasn’t extremely strong, but she was a competitor, and she liked to see that ball fly.”
The family moved to Scottsdale when Kay got older for easier access to competition, and she grew up with sisters Heather and Missy Farr, and Dina and Danielle Ammaccapane.
Kay’s victory at the U.S. Girls’ Junior earned her a spot in the field at the U.S. Women’s Open at age 15.
“All those caddies and the players knew my mom and here I was on display,” recalled Kay. “I was so nervous.”
Kay played collegiate golf at Stanford and played professionally for some time in Europe in Asia but ultimately found that, like her dad, teaching the game suited her best. She keeps a packed schedule on the practice tee where she teaches at the Foothills Golf Club in Phoenix and Mesa Country Club.
“It may be true that I got in my own way playing a few times,” said Kay, who wasn’t quite as emotionally even-keeled as her mom.
“I think I’m really doing what I’m meant to be doing in my life.”
Kathy Cornelius won seven times on the LPGA.
Bill Cornelius died three years ago at age 86. The couple owned a small golf components company, Magique Golf, French for Magic, until the early 2000s.
Kathy said she no longer plays because she got out of the habit, but she carries around an old pitching wedge as her walking stick, fulfilling her doctor’s recommendation.
“I don’t know if he would take too kindly if he knew that’s what I’m using,” said Kathy, “but I think he’d understand.”
Kathy never hit the ball as far as she thought she needed to, but she kept it in the fairway. She goes upstairs in her Chandler home almost every day now to work on her putting, and believes she’d be a better putter if she were still competing.
The great-grandmother of two is prone to take a practice swing if she walks by a mirror or sees her reflection in the back door.
Why a 6-and-4 junior golf blowout stood out from many majors and million-dollar made-for-TV events.
The last year was chock-full of entertaining golf. What stood out the most from the Ryder and Solheim cups, many major championships and million-dollar made-for-TV events? How about a 6-and-4 junior match just outside the nation’s capital.
If you weren’t lucky enough to be in the gallery back in July at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, for the 72nd U.S. Girls’ Junior, then Rose Zhang’s big win might seem pretty pedestrian. No matter the outcome, history was going to be made in the 36-hole final. And just like books and their covers, you can’t judge a match purely by its score. Just ask Bailey Davis. The local Maryland talent was aiming to be the first Black American female to win a USGA championship, but her 6-and-4 defeat was more telling of her character than ability (not to mention Zhang’s talent).
An incoming Stanford freshman at the time, Zhang, who went on to win her first three college starts for the Cardinal this fall, opened the morning play with a bogey-free 6-under 64 (with match-play concessions) and went to the lunch break with a 4-up lead. Davis played well, carding an even-par 70 – a score that might be good enough to hold a lead in previous U.S. Girls’ Juniors – with just one real blemish, a double-bogey on the par-5 12th.
“Bailey was making almost every putt she looked at, and I just had to stay patient and keep up with her. said Zhang. “That’s what you have to do with your opponent, and I think that I did that pretty well.”
Davis cut the lead early in the afternoon and hung around for a few more holes before Zhang started doing what she does best: make birdies in abundance. Zhang rattled off three birdies over four holes to take a 6-up lead through 26 holes. Eventually up five with five to play, Zhang’s last opponent of the marathon week was Mother Nature, who stopped play for three hours before Zhang closed out the match on the 33rd hole with, you guessed it, a birdie after hitting the flagstick with her approach from the rough.
Rose Zhang made 10 birdies in the #USGirlsJunior final, none more memorable than her approach on the 32nd hole to close out the match!
After she won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur at nearby Woodmont Country Club, Zhang had been feeling the good vibes in Maryland and had the gallery to prove it. The only player who came close all week was Davis.
“It was amazing having so many people out here. A lot of friends and family and family friends, teachers, coaches, so many people came out to watch me this week, and I am beyond blessed to have them out here,” said Davis of her final-match fans. “I was 6-down at one point and they were like, ‘You got this.’ I was 5-down, five holes to play and they were like, ‘You can do this, Bailey.’ So that meant a lot to me to know they were out here supporting me and they know I could have possibly won.”
“I played a great match today, but Rose just played better,” Davis continued. “We just take from this experience and learn for the next.”
The records will show Zhang as just the eighth player to win both the Women’s Amateur and Girls’ Junior, and the first to win the junior after the amateur. The records won’t show Davis as a winner, instead they’ll show her smiling with her chin up despite defeat and accepting the challenge to improve.
Neither player teed it up for guaranteed money or a large purse. Instead they did so for the purest of reasons, the love of the game, and that’s the kind of theater multi-million dollar appearance fees will never produce.
