Jaden Soong and Aubrey Hilgers won the boys and girls titles, respectively, at the 2026 Junior PGA Championships.
It all came down to the 17th hole, where Hilgers defeated Yujie Liu on the third playoff hole to win the Girls Championship while a three-shot swing on the par-3 gave Jaden Soong a one-shot victory in the Boys Championship.
“It means so much,” Hilgers, a Surprise, Arizona, native, said after her victory. “If you told me a week ago that I would be here standing with this trophy in my hand, I would not believe you. And honestly, I still can’t believe that I have it, and being out here just means so much.”Soong, from Burbank, California, was overjoyed too. “I haven’t won in a while. I can’t tell you the last time I’ve won, so I’m super grateful for all the work that I’ve put in to be able to come away with the championship,” he said. “I’m just super grateful for it and it was a grind out there for sure.”Hilgers and Liu both entered the final round in a tie for eighth, but sat just two shots behind the leaders on a crowded Girls leaderboard. As many as eight different girls either held or shared the lead Friday before both Hilgers and Liu shot 3-under 69 to force a sudden-death playoff. After matching pars on the first two holes at the 18th and 10th, both players found the bunker off the tee on the par-3 17th. Liu’s second shot ran over the green before Hilgers’ landed within a few feet for an easy par and the win.“I told myself, if [Liu] clutched it to 2 feet, then I was going to have to be aggressive with it,” said Hilgers. “But if she hit it past, like I saw a couple of other girls do today, then I would just have to hit it up a little bit to the left where there’s more green and just see what happens from there.”
The 16-year-old Hilgers was even-par through nine Friday while Liu was 2-over at the turn, hampered by a double-bogey on the par-4 5th. Birdies on the par-5 14th and par-4 15th got Hilgers to 5-under and tied Liu, who had four birdies on the first six holes of the back nine. A clutch birdie on the 18th hole gave China’s Liu a one-shot lead as Hilgers stepped to the 17th tee.“I had no clue that I was going to have to make that to go into a playoff,” said Hilgers, who birdied the par-3 17th to get to 6-under. “I was on that hole and I saw my opportunity for birdie and I made sure I hit that putt as well as I could and I ended up sinking it. I was super ecstatic.”Hilgers, who recently committed to play collegiately at Auburn, played steady through the first three days, firing off rounds of 70-73-70. Her only bad hole of the week was a triple-bogey Wednesday on Fields Ranch East’s par-4 12th, but she responded three holes later with a hole-out eagle at the par-4 15th and had nine birdies across the final two rounds. “I was pretty steady,” Hilgers said. “If you saw my progress last year and the year before until now, you would see that I’ve made so much progress and I was really happy that I was able to show all of it this week.”With the victory, Hilgers earned points toward the 2027 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team and earned an exemption into the 2027 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, among other exemptions. Ava Zhang of Lake Mary, Florida, who entered Friday tied with four atop the leaderboard, shot a 3-over 75 to finish four shots back at 2-under 286. Macie Rasmussen of Chesapeake, Virginia, finished in fourth at 1-under 287 after making her own charge on Friday. She was briefly tied with her playing partner Liu before a bogey on 16 and a double on the 18th gave her a final-round 1-over 73. In the 50th edition of the boys championship, Soong entered Friday with a two-shot advantage over his final-round playing partners Kailer Stone (Alameda, California), who led after the first two rounds, and Ainslie Stanford (Edmond, Oklahoma).The 16-year-old Soong got off to a tough start with a bogey at the par-5 1st and finished his front nine going bogey-double bogey at the par-3 8th and par-4 9th. He took the turn four strokes behind Stone and three behind Stanford while Chase Hughes (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) and Aadi Parmar (Selma, Texas) made runs of their own in the group ahead of them.“I think the front nine, I just didn’t really commit to my shots and I was trying to be too perfect with everything,” said Soong, the No. 6-ranked junior on the AJGA Rankings. “I think on the back nine, I just kind of freed it up and said, ‘Hey, I have nothing to lose now.’ I checked the leaderboard and I was like, I’m nowhere near it, so I might as well just go to the back and see what I can do and make up a few shots.”Soong carded birdies on the par-4 10th and 15th holes to go with a bogey at the par-5 14th to get to 6-under heading to the 17th tee. Reaching as low as 7-under each, Hughes bogeyed 17 while Parmar bogeyed 17 and 18 as the clubhouse leaders at 6-under 282. Stone, who got to 9-under after a spectacular par-save on the par-4 10th, struggled with three straight bogeys after the turn and joined Soong at the 17th tee at 7-under after a birdie on the par-4 16th. Stanford was steadier, but carded a bogey of his own at the 13th to match Stone at 7-under. Once again, the par-3 17th hole decided it all. Stone and Stanford’s tee shots found the bunker and the pair double-bogeyed while Soong found the green en route to a clutch birdie putt. The three-shot swing gave Soong the solo lead at 7-under, and a steady par at 18 sealed the victory.“I checked the leaderboard on the 17th tee, and knew exactly where I was at,” said Soong. “Aadi and Chase didn’t finish 18 until I think after 17 when I made that birdie. Seeing my playing partners dump it in the bunker and have it plugged in there, I didn’t really know what to expect. To be able to make my birdie putt was a lot of momentum going into 18 for me and I’m just thankful to walk away with it.”With the win, Soong earned points toward the 2027 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team and received an exemption into the 2027 Tulum Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour, held at PGA Riviera Maya in Mexico.
Parmar and Hughes finished in a tie for second after final rounds of 1-under 71. Stone and Stanford’s rounds of 1-over 73 ended their championship in a tie for fourth at 5-under 283 alongside Evan Liu of Rancho Santa Fe, California (1-under 71) and Rory Asselta of Ramsey, New Jersey (1-under 71).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Teen golfers clinch Junior PGA titles in dramatic fashion
Reporting by Adam Schupak, Golfweek / Golfweek
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
