Jackson Koivun and Ryleigh Knaub win Dustin Johnson World Juniors

05 Mar 2023
by AmateurGolf.com Staff
see also: View results for Dustin Johnson World Junior, TPC of Myrtle Beach, Jackson Koivun Rankings
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Ryleigh Knaub (L) and Jackson Koivun

Jackson Koivun (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and Ryleigh Knaub (Debary, Fla.) earned two-stroke victories in the Eighth Annual Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship presented by LA Golf at TPC Myrtle Beach.

America’s No. 1 ranked junior boy, Koivun entered Sunday with a three-shot lead and extended his cushion to as many as five before making bogey on the par-3 17th hole and double bogey on No. 18. Even with the late stumble, Koivun finished the tournament at 5-under par and was never seriously threatened down the stretch.

He shot an opening round 67 and led wire-to-wire.

Second-place finisher Rowan Sullivan (Charleston, S.C.) shot 72 and was 3-under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Maxmilian Jelinek (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) and Ethan Paschal (Fayetteville, N.C.).

Knaub entered the final round with a three-stroke lead and shot 73, finishing the 54-hole event at 3-under par, two clear of Alice Ziyi Zhao (Irvine, Calif.). Knaub birdied two of the first four holes, pushing her margin to five, before encountering turbulence on holes five through eight, where she made three bogies to trim her lead.

She settled down to shoot even par 36 on the back and never allowed Zhao to get closer than two strokes over the closing holes.

Zhao, the only girl in the field that never shot a round over par, finished at 1-under and was three strokes ahead of third-place finishers Chloe Kovelesky (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Madison Messimer (Myrtle Beach, S.C.). Anna Davis (Spring Valley, Calif.), the reigning Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion, finished fifth at 3-over.

Forty of the tournament’s 54 boys were ranked among America’s top 100 juniors by either Golfweek or Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS), while 28 of the 36 girls were top 100 players.

Courtesy of Chris King, King Fish Communications

View results for Dustin Johnson World Junior

ABOUT THE Dustin Johnson World Junior

Started in 2016 by the Dustin Johnson Foundation, the Dustin Johnson World Junior Championship is a 54- hole invitational event for Boys and Girls ages 13- 18. Those who do not meet the invitation criteria will have an opportunity to earn a spot via an 18-hole qualifier prior to the event.