Anna Davis of Spring Valley, Calif., claimed to a seven-stroke victory over Julia Misemer of Overland Park, Kan., in the 45th Girls Junior PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
The 15-year-old Davis, who will be a sophomore at Steele Canyon High School in Spring Valley near San Diego, was nursing a two-stroke lead in the final round when she sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole, where Misemer hit into the water en route to a triple bogey for a four-shot swing.
“It went from two to a six-shot lead in like minutes,” said Davis, who has won four times on the Southern California PGA Junior Tour. “So, I could relax a little bit after that, which was nice to not be super stressed going into the last few holes.
“It feels so good to top off the summer this way with a big win at a tournament like this. If I was put in this situation a year ago, I definitely would have struggled mentally, that’s for sure. But my mental game has improved so much, just keeping my head in the game, worrying about me and not what the other girls are doing.”
Davis, who also won the PING Heather Farr Classic earlier this year, posted a score of 69-68-73-67—277, 15-under-par, while Misemer finished at 70-74-68-72—284, followed by Megha Ganne of Holmdel, N.J., at 71-70-74-70—285, and Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nev., at 73-74-71-68—286.
Zoe Antoinette Campos of Valencia posted a score of 71-73-72-71—287 to tie for fifth with Kendall Todd of Goodyear, Ariz., who shot 76-72-72-67—287, Rianne Mikhaela Malixi of the Philippines, who finished at 73-73-70-71—287, and Jacqueline Putrino of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., who wound up at 75-66-74-72—287.
Amari Avery of Riverside carded a score of 74-70-75-69—288 to tie for ninth with Catherine Rao of Camarillo, who totaled 69-72-74-73—288, Brooke Biermann of 73-72-74-69—288, and Lauren Nguyen of Seattle, who came in at 73-74-70-71— 288.
Past champions of the Girls Junior PGA Championship include Cristie Kerr, Inbee Park, Lexi Thompson, Ariya Jutanugarn, Heather Farr, Beth Bauer, Kellee Booth, Vicki Goetze, Grace Park, Leigh Anne Hardin, Aree Song, Angela Park, Yuka Saso, Brandie Burton, Penny Hammel, Rose Zhang, Brittany Altomare, Luci Li and Yealimi Noh.
For complete results, visit https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/7343110545517590835
