England’s Lauren Crump fires a 6-under 65 to take individual lead by one into Saturday
BRAMPTON, Ont. – The leaderboard has tightened significantly with the United States carrying a two-shot lead into the final round on Saturday at the 2026 World Junior Girls Golf Championship, presented by BFL CANADA at Brampton Golf Club in Brampton, Ont.
The United States (U.S.) shot a collective round of 2-under to move to 15-under for the championship and sit two ahead of Team Canada I. The Republic of Korea fired the low team round on Friday with a combined score of 8-under to put the two-time defending champions three back of the leaders.
Heavy rainfall overnight forced play to begin one-hour later on Friday morning making for softer conditions. One thing that remained constant for the field was the swirling and gusting winds that made it difficult for some to score.
“I think they did a great job of managing the conditions, it was really tough, one of the few days on the job that I look around and I’m like ‘glad I’m not playing,’” joked U.S. coach Tiffany Joh.
“It was chilly in the morning then really windy but kind of a little swirly as well and it would lay down then pump back up so it was really challenging and definitely a day where you had to be really patient, accept the results and even walking around it was tough for me to judge yardages and everything so I thought they managed themselves really well out there.”
The U.S. was led by Amelie Zalsman of St. Petersburg, Fla. and Anna Fang of San Diego, Calif. who both carded rounds of 1-under 70 to count for the team on the day. Mia Clausen of Carlsbad, Calif. who entered the day tied for the individual lead closed with an even par 71.
Friday marked the third different combination of players counting for the U.S. and every player has seen their score count twice over the first three rounds which Joh feels helps their overall team mentality.
“For them when they’re out on the golf course, they have a lot of confidence in their teammates and their peers so I think even for them it gives them a little piece of mind out there knowing we have a pretty deep team, so I know that my teammates have got me out there.”
While the leaderboard has tightened and the lead has narrowed Joh will be looking for more of the same from her team on Saturday and taking time to enjoy the experience.
“Really enjoy ourselves, have a good time, build some relationships and let the chips fall as they may. Getting to be in this position is why we play golf right? It’s why we practice, it’s why we work, just getting into the situation of being in contention you learn a lot and it’s a blast so just to enjoy the moment as it comes.”
Right behind the leaders is Team Canada I. On Friday, Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont. shot a 2-under 69 and Clairey Lin of Langley, B.C. closed with a 1-under 70 to count for the team score of 3-under to help put the host country within striking distance of the lead. Nobelle Park of Oakville, Ont. finished with a 3-over 74 on Friday.
The two-time defending champions, Korea were led by 14-year-old Seoah Kim who fired a 6-under 65 and Seoyeon Kang who shot a 2-under 69. Gyuri Yoon finished with a 5-over 76.
“I am so proud of all three girls and they did really well. One of our players, Gyuri has been struggling with putting but I believe all three girls will play really well tomorrow,” said Won Ko, Republic of Korea’s coach. “Today with a strong wind they did what they have to do, and they finished really really well and I am so proud.”
Korea entered the day nine shots back of the leaders and have closed the gap to three to remain in third. Ko said his message to the team tonight will be similar to what he said last night at dinner.
“I told them don’t worry about the scores, of course we are here to win the championship but the more important thing is what you learn and what you have experienced so same thing I am going to tell my girls tonight, we are a couple shots behind and we are catching up more than we expected so believe in yourself but don’t really care about the scores and winning, care about what you learn.”
The U.S., Team Canada I and Korea will once again play together on Saturday, teeing off in the final three groups between 10 a.m. and 10:20 a.m.
England shot a collective 5-under on Friday to move to 8-under for the championship and sit fourth with Spain in fifth at even par.
In the individual competition, England’s Lauren Crump fired a 6-under 65 to surge up the leaderboard to move to 10-under and holds a one-shot lead over Seoah Kim.
“After yesterday I worked on my game a lot, get my irons a bit closer and get holing some putts and today everything kind of just clicked,” said Crump following her round that included six birdies and an eagle.
Crump credited having a lot of links practice earlier in the year, coupled with experience in windier conditions in her hometown while knowing her distances played a key role in separating herself on Friday.
After three consecutive birdies on holes nine through 11, Crump added an eagle on the par-5 14th.
“Laid up on the par-5 and had like 95 yards into wind and was like this is perfect gap wedge and it pitched and went in, and everyone was screaming and I was like oh my god it’s gone in, so yeah that was fun.,” she said with a laugh. Crump drained a 30-foot putt birdie for birdie on 18 to take the lead into Saturday.
Kim is second at 9-under, Lin is third at 8-under with Clausen sitting fourth at 7-under and Fang in fifth at 6-under.
In total, 24 teams are battling for the team championship while also competing for individual honours, with the individual champion earning an exemption into the 2027 CPKC Women’s Open, taking place at The Royal Ottawa Golf Club in Gatineau, Que., August 18-22.
Several players who have competed in the World Junior Girls Golf Championship have gone on to great success on the LPGA Tour. Canadian Brooke Henderson, a 14-time LPGA Tour winner and Canada’s winningest professional golfer, finished fourth in the individual competition at the inaugural championship in 2014.
Other notable competitors who went on to become LPGA Tour winners include Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand who won back-to-back World Junior titles in 2018 and 2019 as well as Yuka Saso of the Philippines who won the 2016 World Junior title. Other former World Junior competitors who have gone on to win on the LPGA Tour include Hannah Green of Australia, Maja Stark and Linn Grant of Sweden and 2023 CPKC Women’s Open winner, Megan Khang of the United States.
Admission to 2026 World Junior Girls Golf Championship, presented by BFL CANADA is free for all spectators. To follow the leaderboard following the third round, please click here.
