AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions: Aphrodite Deng and Tyler Mawhinney finish on top

November 22, 2023 | by American Junior Golf Association

Aphrodite Deng (Left) and Tyler Mawhinney (AJGA Photo)

Deng held her 54-hole lead in the final round, while Mawhinney mounted a furious comeback to win the Boy's Division.

Tyler Mawhinney and Aphrodite Deng won the 46th edition of the Rolex Tournament of Champions. With this win, they each earned their first AJGA Invitational titles. Mawhinney finished the week with a 5-under total, while Deng finished at 8-under.

This year's Rolex Tournament of Champions featured 80 players competing for the coveted year-end title over four days. The field included 45 players committed to play college golf, 67 past AJGA champions, and 65 Rolex Junior All-Americans.

BOYS DIVISION

Mawhinney's strong final-round play, putting together a 7-under-par 65, sealed the come-from-behind victory. Mawhinney surprised himself, opening the day bogey-free on his front nine. Quick birdies on holes Nos. 1 and 2 boosted the sophomore's confidence as he continued on.

As Mawhinney made the turn, he was at 4-under-par 32 and charging up the leaderboard. A bogey on No. 12 set him back a stroke, but he bounced back, birdieing four of his last six holes to close out the round. The 2026 graduate entered the round in eighth place and moved up seven spots on the leaderboard to secure the win.

"It means a lot to win my first AJGA," Mawhinney said. "It was a lot of hard work over the last four or five years. It is surreal. I didn't think I had a shot at the win until I looked at the leaderboard on the No. 13 tee and saw I was two back (of the lead), so I knew then I needed a couple more birdies to make it happen coming in."

This is the Florida native's first AJGA win of any kind. Mawhinney's previous best AJGA finish came at the 2023 Justin Thomas Junior Championship, T4. Mawhinney earned Rolex Junior All-America honors this season for the first time. His year included three AJGA top-10 finishes and a win at the Scott Robertson Memorial.

Gerardo Gomez finished in second place, Kihei Akina in third place, Michael Riebe in fourth place, and Boyi (Barry) Zhang in fifth place.

GIRLS DIVISION

Deng came into the final round with a five-stroke lead over the Girl's Division field. The youngest player in the field put up an even-par-72 final round to play defense on her lead. Opening her day with an early birdie on No. 2, Deng was up and down all day, carding as many birdies as she did bogeys to finish at even par.

"I played pretty good this week," Deng said. "I wasn't expecting to play this good or let alone win, but I made fairways and greens as much as I could. Going into the final round I was trying to remain steady and play the game that I had been the past few days.

With this win, Deng became the first player, boy or girl, to win the Rolex Tournament of Champions from the state of New Jersey and the first player of Canadian Citizenship to win.

The 2028 graduate also became the second youngest girl to ever win the Tournament of Champions behind Naree Wongluekiet in 1999, who was 13 years and 70 days old at the time of her win.

Deng caps off an impressive season, which included a place on the Junior All-Star Team, first-time Rolex Junior All-American honors, two top-five AJGA Invitational finishes, and a win at the Moon Golf Junior All-Star back in April.

Jasmine Koo finished in second place, Alice Ziyi Zhao finished in third place, Anna Huang finished in fourth place, and Lisa Herman finished in fifth place.

About the AJGA Tournament of Champions

AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions: Aphrodite Deng and Tyler Mawhinney finish on top

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 pla...

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