Liu and Abdulghany lead Boy's/Girl's AJGA Thunderbird

5/28/2017 | by American Junior Golf Association

Kaiwen Liu during second round play <br>(AJGA Photo)

Kaiwen Liu continues to pave the way in the Boy's Division while in the Girl's Division Alyaa Abdulghany has moved in front

SCOTSDALE, AZ (May 28, 2017) - Kaiwen Liu of San Diego held his position atop of the leaderboard through the second round of the Thunderbird International Junior. Alyaa Abdulghany of Newport Beach, California, carded five birdies in the second round to take control of the Girls Division at Grayhawk Golf Club. The Thunderbird International Junior is celebrating its 18th year on the AJGA schedule. Many past champions of the event have gone on to successful college, PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour careers including Morgan Pressel, Ariya Jutanugarn, Ryan Moore and Brian Harman. With the support of The Thunderbirds, Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation, Grayhawk Golf Club and Under Armour®, the event has become one of the most competitive and fun-filled junior golf tournaments in the world. Liu fired six birdies to finish the round with a 4-under-par 68. He enters the final round with a 10-under-par tournament total of 134 and an impressive 13 birdies. The three-time Rolex Junior All-American has signed a National Letter of Intent with the University of California, Berkeley. Abdulghany posted a 3-under-par 69 in the second round bringing her two-day total to 6-under-par 138. This is her third appearance at the Thunderbird International Junior. She finished second in 2016. The University of Southern California commit is a three-time Rolex Junior All-American and is looking to clinch her first AJGA Invitational win. Canon Claycomb of Bowling Green, Kentucky, made an impressive move up the leaderboard after starting the day T19. He birdied eight holes with no bogeys to finish at 8-under-par 136 to put him in second place. Noah Norton of Chico, California, and Jacob Bergeron of Slidell, Louisiana, also moved up the leaderboard to end T3 with 7-under-par 137 totals. Finishing the round in fifth is Houston native Travis Vick after firing six birdies during the second round for a two-day total of 6-under-par 138. Zixuan (Jennifer) Zhou of Longwood, Florida, and Rachel Heck of Memphis, Tennessee, enter the final round T2 with two-day totals of 141. Zhou has not finished outside the top three in four of her last five AJGA events. Heck is a two-time Rolex Junior All-American who has not finished outside the top five in any AJGA event this season.

About the Thunderbird International Junior

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Thunderbird International Junior is a 54-hole stroke play competition played on the par-72, Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club. The event features 48 boys and 30 girls, ages 12-18, from 17 state...

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