Russell Wins Boys Title by 7 at Junior PGA; Clemente Takes Girls by 3

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Gianna Clemente lost the final at the 2022 U.S. Girls Junior Championship to Yana Wilson. Their positions were reversed this week in the Junior PGA Championship at Hot Springs Country Club. Clemente didn't get off to the best start in the fourth round on Friday. She made a double bogey 6 on the first hole on the Arlington Course at Hot Springs. But she was 5 under from that point on, which gave her a 3-under-par 68 and a 72-hole total of 275 (9 under), and that was good enough for a three-shot victory over Wilson, Kinsley Ni and Kylie Chong.

Chong, a 17-year-old from California, turned in the lowest score of the day, a 66. Wilson, who is 18, shot 69. Ni, who's only 15 but won on the China LPGA Tour last year, when she was 14, closed with a 70. Clemente, also 15, shot 68 on Friday.

This year, Wilson was the medalist at the U.S. Girls Junior, but she lost in the second round of match play. Clemente made it to the semifinals before losing to the eventual champion, Kiara Romero.

Clemente began Friday's round at Arlington in third place, two strokes behind the 54-hole leader, Kylee Choi, and she fell further behind with a double bogey on the par-4 first hole. But Choi doubled the par-3 second and made three bogeys in four holes, from the fourth through the seventh, on her way to a front-nine 40. She made nine consecutive pars on the back side, but the resulting 76 relegated her to a fifth-place finish at 281.

Meanwhile, Clemente was going in the other direction. She bounced back from the double at No. 1 with birdies at 3 and 4, which lifted her into a tie for first, and she took control of the tournament by addiing three more birdies on the back nine, including two in a row at the par-4 16th and par-3 17th.

Considering the ages of the top four finishers in the Girls Division of the Junior PGA, it seemed as though experience didn't make that much difference. The same was true iin the Boys Division, maybe even moreso, because the winner there was Russell Miles, a 14-year-old from Jacksonville Beach, Fla.. He pretty much lapped the field, leading wire to wire and closing the deal with a 4-under 67 at Arlington on Friday. Miles put an exclamation point on his seven-shot victory with an eagle at the par-5 18th hole. It was his third eagle of the week, and it gave him a 72-hole total of 266 (18 under).

Jackson Byrd matched Miles for low score of the day with a 67, and that moved him up into a tie for second place at 273, along with Billy Davis, who shot 68. Khiel Akina, who started Friday in second place, shot 71 and fell back into fifth.

None of the. qualifers for the Junior PGA from Minnesota made it all the way to the finish line. Reese McCauley and Kathryn VanArragon, both two-time Minnesota state high school champions, made the 36-hole cut in the Girls Division but missed the 54-hole cut. The closest anyone from Minnesota came to making the 54-hole cut was Sam Udovich, the winner of the 2022 Class AA championship at the state high school tournament. He was 2 over (73) in his opening round Tuesday at Arlington but came back with a 1-under 70 at Park in the second round and a 71 at Arlington on Thursday


Junior PGA Championships

At Hot Springs Country Club

Park Course (par 71) &

Arlington Course (par 71)

Hot Springs, Ark.

Grils Division

Final results

1. Gianna Clemente, Estero, Fla. 64P-70A-73A-68A--275

T2. Yana Wilson, Hutchiinson, Nev. 65P-72A-72A-69A--278

T2. Kylie Chong, Toirrance, Calif. 75P-68A-69A-66A--278

T2. Kinsley (Zixin) Ni, Los Angeles. 67P-72A-69A-70A--278

5. Kylee Choi, Murrieta, Calif. 66P-67A-72A-76A--281

T6. Sophia Li, New York City 70P-72A-69A-71A--282

T6. Mia Hammond, New Albany, Ohio 74P-68A-71A-69A--282

T6.. Alice Zhao, Shenyang, China 68P-71A-68A-75A--282

Missed 54-hole cut -- 219

Reese McCauley, Inver Grove Hts. 73P-74A-75A--222

Kathryn VanArragon, Blaine 72P-72A-84A--228

Missed 36-hole cut -- 147

Ava Hanneman, Orono 77P-75A--152


Boys Division

Final results

1. Miles Russell, Jacksonville Bch. Fla. 67A-67P-65A-67A--266

T2. Billy Davis, Spring Valley, Calif. 68A-69P-68A-68A--273

T2. Jackson Byrd, St.Simons Island, Ga. 71A-66P-69A-67A--273

4. Kihel Akina, Alpine, Utah 68A-68P-68A-71A-275

T5. Will Hartman, Marvin, N.C. 68A-71P-70A-67A--276

T5. Jay Leng, San Diego 68A-68P-72A-68A--276

T5. Wheaton Ennis, Eagle, Idaho 70A-71P-67A-68A--276

Missed 54-hole cut -- 213

Sam Udovich, Inver Grove Hts. 73A-70P-71A--214

Missed 36-hole cut -- 145

Andrew Ramos, Blaine 76A-73P--149

Ryan Stendahl, Maple Grove. 79A-74P--153