Meja Ortengren (L) and Jackson Koivun (AJGA photo)
Meja Ortengren of Stockholm, Sweden, won the 45th edition of the Rolex Tournament of Champions with a total score of 15-under-par 273. In the Boys Division,
Jackson Koivun of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, won with a total of 13-under-par 275.
The 45th edition of the Rolex Tournament of Champions featured 84 of the best junior golfers in the world from nine different countries. The tournament combined the 2022 Rolex Junior All-Americans and Rolex Scholastic Honorees with many of this year's AJGA champions to create The Greatest Week in Junior Golf.
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Back-to-back Rolex TOC wins for Ortengren
Ortengren won her second Rolex Tournament of Champions in as many years. She trailed the field in only one of the four rounds. The 2024 graduate, had an impressive three eagles on the week. Her steady pace of play got her to the finish line to get the four-stroke win.
"It feels great. I’m very happy to be able to play over in the United States and to play at this course because it has been amazing."
Ortengren has only played in a handful of AJGA events. She has finished top-5 in all events she's competed in. This includes her 2021 Rolex Tournament of Champions win and The 2021 PING Junior Solheim Cup where she was a part of the victorious European team.
Rounding out the top five in the Girls' Division, is two Irvine, Californian natives, Leigh Chien and Alice Ziyi Zhao. They finished T2 at 11-under-par 277. Chien, a Stanford verbal commit, was the low round at 6-under-par 66 to bring her up three spots on the leaderboard. Zhao who led after the first round, ended her week with a 1-under-par 71 to stay in the top two.
Elise Lee of Irvine, California, ended the tournament in solo-fourth place at 6-under-par 282. Siuue Wu of (Hong Kong) Reunion, Florida, and a member of the 2022 Junior All-Star Team, finished T5 along with Asterisk Talley of Chowchilla, California. Both juniors finished at 5-under-par 283.
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Koivun completes the comeback to capture Boys' Division
In the Boys' Division, Koivun had to come from behind to earn his first Rolex Tournament of Champions victory. He never led a round until the final putt dropped. The Auburn signee saw himself in fifth place after the first round. It was his 3-under-par 69 second round that brought him into contention. He would sit in second place for both the second and third rounds.
Koivun, No. 3 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, started the final round three strokes back. The 2023 graduate had a bogey-free round all the way up until the 18th hole. After a few crucial birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 15, Koivun saw the top of the leaderboard. From there, the Rolex Junior All-American let the rest of the round play itself out. Koivun took a two-stroke lead into hole No.18 and won the event on a bogey to capture the win.
"It’s pretty awesome, last year I got second place at this tournament but I lost in a playoff so that one kind of hurt. It’s really nice to come back and compete for the second time and take the win."
This was Koivun's second invitational and third overall AJGA win. He was also a part of the victorious 2022 Junior Presidents Cup United States team.
Rounding out the top finishers, Johnnie Clark of Mesa, Ariz., finished in second at 12-under-par 276. Clark had a stellar week where he found himself on top of the leaderboard for the first three rounds. In third place with a 10-under-par 278 was Jeremy Chen of Taipei City, Taiwan.
Gerardo Gomez of (Mexico) Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., would finish in fourth at 9-under-par 279. To finish the top-5 in fifth was Asher Whitaker of Wichita, Kan.
View results for Rolex Tournament of Champions
ABOUT THE Rolex Tournament of Champions
The Rolex Tournament of Champions features 84 of
the best junior
golfers in the world. The tournament assembles
the
Rolex Junior All-Americans with the past year’s
champions to create The Greatest Week in Junior
Golf.
Format is
72 holes of stroke play, with boys and girls
competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information