Kristina Xu of Claremont captured the Fortinet Girls Invitational at Stanford by one stroke over three players at Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto.
The 16-year-old Ku, a junior at Claremont High School who also won the 2023 Golf Performance Center Killington Junior Golf Championship, posted a score of 67-71—138, four-under-par, and was declared the winner when the final round was cancelled by inclement weather.
“It feels unreal right now,” said Xu, who finished in the top 10 of all four SCGA Junior Girls Tour events she entered last season. “It feels great playing my best golf during the first two days and coming out on top.
“It was pretty challenging this week with the weather. Seeing all of these amazing girls playing the tournament spooked me at first, but I stuck with my mentality of just thinking of myself and taking it one shot at a time.
“This win means a lot. Winning my second AJGA tournament and my first AJGA Invitational, I feel like I have a one-up on my sister now.”
Elise Lee of Irvine shot 69-70—139 to finish in a three-way tie for second with Amy Lee of Canada, who also totaled 69-70—139, and Megan Meng of Pennington, N.J., who wound up at 70-69—139.
Annika Ishiyama of Costa Mesa posted a score of 73-68—141 to tie for fifth with Olivia Duan of Cupertino, who finished at 74-67—141, while Nikki Oh of Torrance shot 71-71—142 to tie for seventh with Clairey Lin of Palos Verdes Estates, who also wound up at 71-71—142, and Angela Zhang of Bellevue, Wash., who came in at 70-72—142.
Vidhi Lakhawala of Kendall Park, N.J., carded a score of 69-74—143 to tie for 10th with Avery McCrery of Wilmington, Del., (71-72—143); Gianna Clemente of Estero, Fla. (71-72—143). Celina Yeo of Canada (71-72—143), and Miranda Lu of Bradenton, Fla. (70-73—143).
For complete results, visit: https://www.ajga.org/tournaments/2024/fortinet-girls-invitational-at-stanford/leaderboard
