Congressional Country Club formidable test for top junior golfers

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BETHESDA, Md. (July 30, 2024) — Congressional Country Club tested the top junior golfers early and often during the first round of the 48th Junior PGA Championships, with just 27 golfers—13 girls and 14 boys—finishing under par. Siuue Wu leads the Girls Division while seven players are tied for the lead among the Boys following play Tuesday.

Wu, of Reunion, Florida, posted the lowest score among all competitors in the first round with a 5-under 66 as the girls took on the Gold Course.

“I think overall my round was pretty solid,” said the 18-year-old Wu. “I hit my irons pretty good and just gave myself some opportunities for birdies.”

After a slow start with back-to-back bogeys on her first two holes, Wu turned things around with a birdie on the par-5, 493-yard 6th hole before carding an eagle on the par-5, 468-yard 7th.

“I hit a good driver and I had 210 to the [7th] hole,” said Wu, who will play at the University of Florida this fall. “I tried to go for it and I kind of hit it a little thin. It went short of the green and then I had like a 30 yard chip that went in.”

Wu recorded four more birdies on the back nine, capped by one on the par-3, 141-yard 18th, to give her a one-stroke lead heading into the final round.

A trio of girls sit just behind Wu on the leaderboard at 4-under 67: Madison Messimer (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina), Anna Song (Los Angeles, California) and Kinsley Ni (Los Angeles, California).

Messimer, a University of Tennessee commit, carded six birdies and went 3-under on the par-5s on the Gold Course.

“I was just hitting all my approach shots really close,” said the 17-year-old Messimer. “I made a lot of putts. I've been struggling with that for the past tournaments and I putted really well today. So I was happy about that…I had four tap-in birdies and I made a couple of long putts.”

Ni, Song and Ryleigh Knaub from Debary, Florida (3-under 68) combined to finish 11-under as a group, with Song leading the way with six birdies.

“I felt really confident about my round today,” said Song, who is committed to play at Stanford University. “I hit the ball really well. I put myself into good positions to make a putt and just did that all day.”

Alice Zhao (Irvine, California) is T-5 with Knaub at 3-under 68, followed by Delaney Abel (Corning, New York) and Angela Zhang (Bellevue, Washington) in a tie for 7th at 2-under 69.

Madison Rizzo from nearby Leesburg, Virginia, recorded the first hole-in-one of the championships, finding the cup on the Gold Course’s par-3, 187-yard 3rd hole with a 5-hybrid.

Seven players are tied for the lead at 2-under 70 in the Boys Division after play on the Blue Course Tuesday: Brock Porter (St. George, Utah), Colin Salema (Matthews, North Carolina), Riley Apodaca (Deming, New Mexico), Brooks Simmons (Dallas, Texas), Talon Dingledine (North Chesterfield, Virginia), Chase Kyes (Birmingham, Alabama) and Ronin Banerjee (Irvine, California)

Porter held a solo lead following the morning wave, matching a bogey and double-bogey with five birdies, including back-to-back on the par-5, 566-yard 16th and par-4, 453-yard 17th.

“I was hitting the driver really good,” said the 17-year-old Porter. “My irons were a little off, but I was missing them in the right spots and putting pretty good.”

Salema, who will be playing at Clemson University this fall, was the first of the remaining six to tie for the first round lead during the afternoon wave. After starting with an opening bogey on his first hole (the 10th), Salema responded with four birdies on his last 10 holes to move to 2-under.

“The key to the round today was just being patient,” said Salema. “I actually had three 3-putts on the back nine, which I was a little disappointed about. Starting on 18, I really kind of started to focus more, especially on the greens, and to give myself looks that were a little bit more makeable.”

Apodaca had a “hard-fought battle” to get to 2-under, finishing with four-straight birdies on holes 6-9 after a tough start.

“I was going through a rough stretch,” said the 18-year-old Apodaca. “I had just made a bogey and I was 2-over and I'm like stressing out. Then I hit a really good shot, which I thought was a bad shot, but it ended up being an easy two-putt. After that, it just became like clockwork. I knew I was going to make a birdie every single hole. That's what it felt like.”

Dingledine, who hails just 120 miles south of Congressional in North Chesterfield, Virginia, also got to 2-under through late heroics after an eagle on the par-5, 566-yard 16th hole.

“Really hit the ball solidly,” said the 18-year-old. “Hit a good drive and had 280 in and then killed a 3-wood. I didn't know how it could get there but I got the front edge like 15 feet and just rolled to the back.”

Middle Atlantic PGA Standings

Of the 23 junior golfers from the Middle Atlantic PGA Section competing this week at Congressional, 12 are under the initial cut lines heading into the second round.

Dingledine headlines the six boys from the section at 2-under 70 to sit in a tie for the lead in the Boys Division overall.

Elsie MacCleery, of Crozet, Virginia, tops the girls from the Middle Atlantic PGA at 1-under 70, sitting in a tie for 9th overall in the Girls Division.

The cut after 36 holes will be to the low-60 girls and low-60 boys, plus ties, and after 54 holes to the low-30 girls and low-30 boys, plus ties.

The 48th Junior PGA Championships continue Wednesday at Congressional Country Club. Second-round action gets underway at 7:10 a.m. ET, with the girls set to play the Blue Course while the boys move to the Gold Course.

For more information about the Junior PGA Championships, visit JuniorPGAChampionship.com and follow on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

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Media Contacts

Alan Cox, PGA of America, 972-214-8274, acox@pgahq.com