Deng earns her third win of the season in Georgia
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Aphrodite Deng of Calgary, Alta. defeated Xingtong Chen of Singapore, 2 and 1 after 35 holes in the final to win the 76th U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship on Saturday at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga.
The 15-year-old member of Team Canada NextGen led Chen 4 up following the opening 18-holes of the final. Deng and Chen traded the lead through the opening six holes before Deng won Nos. 7, 10, 12 and 13 to earn the advantage heading into the final 18-holes of the championship.
In the afternoon, Chen pulled to within two after winning Nos. 19 and 23 and the two battled back-and-forth before Deng retook her 4 up lead after winning Nos. 27 and 28. Chen again pulled to within two late taking Nos. 32 and 34; but both carded pars on the 35th hole giving Deng the win at 2 and 1.
Deng’s path to the final began after sitting at 2-over T32 following stroke play on Tuesday. In the Round of 64 on Wednesday, she defeated Sarah Hammett of Australia, 2 and 1 to advance. Thursday would mark two more victories, first in the Round of 32, following a 2 and 1 win over Mia Calles of Clinton, S.C. and later winning in 19 holes over Yujie Liu of China. The quarters and semifinals took place on Friday, where Deng began with a 2 up victory over Chloe Kovelesky of Boca Raton, Fla. followed by a 2 and 1 win over Rayee Feng of Short Hills, N.J. to secure her spot in the finals.
The win is the third for Deng, having previously won two junior titles earlier this season, including the 2025 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in April and the 2025 Mizuho Americas Open in May where she played alongside world no. 1, Nelly Korda.
“Aphrodite is a very talented player who came to the program with great family support and quite a few wins at a young age. She is incredibly hard working and disciplined. This is a huge win for her and the program. I am very happy for Aphrodite and her family,” said Jeff MacDonald, Head Coach, Team Canada NextGen Girls.
Team Canada NextGen members, Clairey Lin of Langley, B.C., Ruihan Kendria Wang of Vancouver, B.C., Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill, Ont., Clara Ding of White Rock, B.C., Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont. and Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta. also competed this week.
Lin advanced to the Round 16 where she fell to the top ranked player in the field, Grace Carter of Jupiter, Fla. 1 up on Thursday. Lin finished stroke play at 1-under T15 and won her Round of 64 match, 6 and 5 over Junxi Guo of Singapore and her Round of 32 match, 3 and 2 over Kacey Ly of Temple City, Calif. In addition, Xing and Wang both advanced to the Round of 64 of the tournament.
The 76th U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship opened on Monday with 36-holes of stroke play over the first two days before moving into match play on Wednesday through to Saturday’s final.
For the final standings and match play results from the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, please click here.
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