Tiger Woods’ son, Charlie Woods and President Donald Trump’s granddaughter, Kai Trump, finished the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley on different notes. While Charlie was able to make progress after a poor first round, Kai failed to continue the slight improvement of the previous two days in the final round.
Charlie started the second round on a high note, eagling his first hole of the day. However, the round was a bit of a seesaw for him, as he then carded four birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey to finish 1-over for the round.
His 36-hole score of 7-over put him in a tie for 27th place in a field of 36 of the world’s top juniors. Charlie Woods finished the first round tied for 32nd.
In the third round, the younger Woods had four birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey for a score of 1-over. His 54-hole score was 8-over and he will start the final round tied for 25th.
Charlie fell back in the final round when he carded four bogeys and a double bogey on the back nine to finish with a score of 75. However, it was enough to keep him in a tie for 25th place with a final score of 11-over 299.
Kai Trump, on the other hand, reported a significant improvement from the first round to the second, as her Thursday score was 10 strokes better than Wednesday. Her highlight of the day was the four birdies she carded on her way to a 7-over 79 for the round.
However, her performance dropped off in the third round as she carded one birdie, eight bogeys and two double bogeys for an 11-over total. Her 54-hole score was 35 over and she remains firmly at the bottom of the leaderboard in a field of 24 top junior players.
Kai completely melted down in the final round when she carded another 89 for a terrible final score of 52-over 340. She never left last place on the 24-girl leaderboard.
Thailand’s Pimpisa Rubrong carded a 3-under 69 in the second round to overtake Canada’s Aphrodite Deng in the girls’ standings, but the latter responded with a 6-under third round to take sole possession of the lead after 54 holes.
Deng proved to be the best golfer in the field, carding a fourth round 73 for a six-shot victory with a final score of 7-under 281.
In the boys’ competition, American star Luke Colton carded a 3-under 69 in the second round to move into a share of the lead with Wednesday’s leader, Kiwi Joshua Bai. But Bai bounced back with a 5-under third round to regain the solo lead at 11-under.
However, it was AJGA number one Miles Russell who surprised everyone with his fourth under par round of the tournament to overturn a four stroke deficit and take the title. Russell carded rounds of 69, 70, 70 and 70 to finish on 9-under 279.
The Junior Invitational at Sage Valley has been played since 2011 and is considered one of the most important tournaments on the world junior circuit. Each year it attracts some of the best players in the category, both American and international.
Past champions include current professional golf stars such as Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia and Joaquin Niemann.
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