JERSEY CITY, N.J. — This week’s Mizuho Americas Open will see 120 LPGA Tour players compete alongside 24 top amateurs from the American Junior Golf Association at Liberty National Golf Club in the second edition of the event hosted by Michelle Wie West. The amateurs will tee it up in their own modified Stableford competition over the four days of tournament play, and these juniors have got some serious game, just like their professional counterparts.
Meet just a few of the AJGA participants in this week’s field at the Mizuho Americas Open:
Gianna Clemente
LPGA Tour fans will definitely recognize Gianna Clemente’s name on the tee sheet this week. The now 16-year-old Monday qualified for three straight LPGA Tour events when she was 14, teeing it up in the CPKC Women’s Open, the Dana Open and the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G in 2022. Clemente won the 2023 Girls’ Junior PGA Championship and took home the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball title alongside her playing partner Avery Zweig. The Florida resident finished sixth in this event last year, with a 72-hole total of 138 points in the modified Stableford competition. Clemente is a member of the first U.S. Junior National Team.
Aphrodite Deng
Fourteen-year-old Aphrodite Deng of Short Hills, N.J., is currently best known for winning the inaugural edition of The Nelly Invitational, an AJGA event hosted by current Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda. Deng has one additional AJGA victory to her credit, the Rolex Tournament of Champions, a title she earned on November 22, 2023, after defeating Jasmine Koo by a whopping five shots at the Canyons Course at TPC San Antonio.
Jasmine Koo
Jasmine Koo made headlines a few weeks ago at The Chevron Championship after a lucky break on the final hole at The Club at Carlton Woods. The 18-year-old’s second shot on the par 5 would have landed in the water had it not hit a sign located near the 18th green and bounced over the rest of the penalty area, landing safely on the other side of the lake. Koo ultimately made birdie on her last hole to post a four-day total of 3-under and earn low amateur honors at the first LPGA Tour major of the 2024 season. The California native won the 2023 Women’s Western Amateur and participated in the 2023 U.S. Junior Solheim Cup in Spain. She tied for ninth last year at Liberty National Golf Club.
Asterisk Talley
Asterisk Talley just won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball on Wednesday, May 15 with her playing partner Sarah Lim at Oak Hills Country Club, quickly hopping on a plane to come compete in the Mizuho Americas Open on Thursday afternoon. Talley is the second-youngest winner in the event’s history, claiming her first USGA championship title at just 15 years old. Talley won the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in March and captured three AJGA titles in 2023, including the SERI PAK Desert Junior, Rolex Girls Junior Championship and C.T. Pan Foundation Championship. Talley was named a member of the very first U.S. Junior National Team in March.
Yana Wilson
Nevada native Yana Wilson won the 2023 edition of the Mizuho Americas Open after earning 147 points across four days of tournament play in the Stableford format and will look to defend her title this week in Jersey City, N.J. The now 17-year-old was named the AJGA Girls Player of the Year in 2023 and won the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 2022 over Gianna Clemente. While still competing as an amateur, Wilson won a professional event on the Cactus Tour earlier this year at Sun City Country Club in Arizona, defeating Antonia Malate by two shots. She is committed to play collegiate golf at the University of Oregon.
)
)
)
)
