No. 16 Seed Clemente Blitzes No. 1 Ni in Junior Girls, But 2,3,4 & 5 Seeds Make Quarters

TARZANA, Calif. -- It would appear that Cinderella is taking the week off. There are a couple of low seeds still alive going into the quarterfinal round Friday morning in the U.S. Girls Junior Championship, but mostly the players who were expected to advance are still alive, and that almost never happens. Instead of a bunch of Cinderella stories, the quarters will feature the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 seeds, and that almost never happens.

As for the No. 1 seed, Kinsley Ni, a 16-year-old prodigy from China who beat the field by four shots with a 131 (66-65) in the stroke-play part of the tournament at Caballero Country Club, she lost Thursday afternoon in the Round of 16, but you can hardly fault her for that. Playing another 16-year-old prodigy, the No. 16 seed, Californian Gianna Clemente, Ni was 1 under after nine holes -- and she was 5 down to Clemente, who shot a 6-under 30 on the front nine, and went on to beat Ni 7&6.

Clemente was the runner-up in this tournament two years ago, and last year, she lost 2-up in the semifinals to the eventual champion, Kiara Romero (who then played well enough in her freshman year at the University of Oregon to be named an All-American).

The player who lost to Romero in the 2023 final was Rianne Malixi, and she's the No. 2 seed this year. She won her Round of 64 match 6&5 over the No. 63 seed, Annie Jin. In the Round of 32, she was 3 up against No. 31 seed Kennedy Swedick and played the back nine in even par, but Swedick played it in 3 under, and Malixi had to birdie the first extra hole (No. 1, 500 yards, par 5) to advance. On Thursday afternoon, she concluded her match on the 13th hole once again, beating the No. 18 seed, Yanling Liu, 6&5.

Jasmine Koo, an 18-year-old from Cerritos, Calif. who will be a freshman at USC this fall, is the No. 3 seed. She's the highest-ranked player in the field -- at No. 7 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings -- and she's been every bit as good as advertised so far. Or maybe even a little better. In three matches, she's a combined 16 under par (with concessions), and she has yet to see the 14th tee. Koo won her first two matches 6&5 and then buried the No. 51 seed, Lilly Peng, 8&7 in the Round of 16.

Like Ni in her loss to Clemente, Peng didn't do that much wrong. She and Clemente both bogeyed the par-5 first hole, but Peng played the next six holes in 1 under par -- and was 4 down. Clemente played holes No. 2 through 11 in 8 under!

No. 4 Asterisk Talley and No. 5 Vanessa Borovilos made their way into the quarterfinals, too, although Talley needed 21 holes to dispatch Thanana Katchasananmanee (No. 36) in the Round of 32, and Borovilos was pushed to the 19th hole in her Round of 16 match against the 21st seed, Shyla Brown.

Reese McCauley, the two-time Minnesota state high school champion and the University of Minnesota's prize recruit for 2024, had one of those the-game-seems-easy-for-a-while-and-then-suddenly-it doesn't weeks. As a result, she qualified for match play with only one stroke to spare at 146, and she lost to the No. 9 seed, Amelie Zalsman, 3&2 in the Round of 64. Zalsman, in turn, was beaten, 1 up, Thursday morning in the Round of 32 by the No. 41 seed, Avani Prashanth.

Prashanth won again in the afternoon, 3&2 in her Round of 16 match against No. 40 Isaki Sakashita.

On Friday morning, Clemente and Prashanth will be the first off the tee, at 7 a.m. Pacific Time, in their quarterfinal match.


U.S. Girls Junior Championship

At Caballero Country Club

Par 71, 6,365 yards

Tarzana, Calif.

Match play


Round of 64

No. 9 Amelie Zalsman, St. Petersburg, Fla. def. Reese McCauley, Inver Grove Heights 3&2

No. 1. Kinsley Ni, China def. No. 64 Cathy Zhang 3&2

No. 2. Rianne Malixi, Phillipines def. No. 63 Annie Jin, Bradenton, Fla. 6&5

No. 3. Jasmine Koo, Cerritos, Calif. def. Marley Pedrique, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. 6&5

No. 4 Asterisk Talley, Chowchilla, Calif. def. No. 61 Sofia Vargas, Riverside, Calif. 3&2

No. 5. Vanessa Borovilos, Canada def. Charlotte Cantonis, Tampa, Fla. 20 holes

No. 59 Anna Fang, San Diego def. No. 6 Aphrodite Deng, Canada 2&1

No. 58 Madison Messimer, Myrtle Beach, S.C. def. No. 7 Kaili Xiao, China 1 up

No. 8 Yuka Nashina, Japan def. Veronika Exposito, The Woodlands, Texas 3&2


Round of 32

No. 41 Avani Prashanth, Inida def. No. 9 Zalsman 1 up

No. 1 Ni def. No. 33 Swetha Sathish, Canada 3&2

No. 2 Malixi def. No. 31 Kennedy Swednick, Albany, N.Y. 19 holes

No. 3 Koo def. Chanel Dangela, Korea 6&5

No. 4. Talley def. Thanana Katchasananmanee, Thailand 21 holes

No. 5 Borovilos def. Kylie Chong, Torrance, Calif. 5&4

No. 59 Fang def. Donina Zhou, Trabouca Canyon, Calif. 4&2

No. 58 Messimer def. Raya Nakao, Kanaohe, Hawaii 2&1

No. 16 Gianna Clemente, Estero, Calif. def. No. 48 Lisa Copeland, Naperville, Ill. 1 up


Round of 16

No. 16 Clemente def. No. 1 Ni 7&6

No. 2. Malixi def. No. 18 Yanling Liu, Canada 6&5

No. 3 Koo def. No. 51 Lily Peng, San Ramon, Calif. 8&7

No. 4. Talley def. No. 20 Scarlett Schremmer, Birmingham, Ala. 2&1

No. 5. Borovilos def. Shyla Brown, McKenny, Texas 19 holes

No. 41 Prashanth def. No. 40 Isaki Sakashita, Japan 3&2

No. 59 Fang def. No. 22 Brynn Kort, Henderson, Nev. 5&4

No. 58 Messimer def. No. 23 Kathryn Ha, Roanoke, Va. 20 holes




Stroke play

Final results

1. Kinsley Ni 66-65--131

T2. Jasmine Koo 69-66--135

T2. Rianne Malixi 68-67--135

4. Asterisk Talley 69-67--136

T5. Aphrodite Deng 65-72--137

T5. Kaili Xiao 68-69--137

T5. Yuka Nishina 68-69--137

T5. Vanessa Borovilos 70-67--137

T9. Kylee Choi 65-73--138

T9. Natalie Yen 67-71--138

T9. Amelia Zalsman 68-70--138

T54. Reese McCauley 73-73--146

Missed cut -- 147 (there was an 8-for-3 playoff at that number that started late Tuesday, and it will be continued Wednesday morning)

Gabriella Eifrig 77-76--153