Graniteville, South Carolina, United States: For the second year in succession, Joshua Bai has taken the opening-day lead in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club.
Last year, the New Zealander raced out of the starting blocks with a 65 to lead by four. He eventually finished third in the 54-hole event.
On Wednesday, he carded a five-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead from American Mason Howell.
This time the 18-year-old from Auckland will be hoping to maintain his early advantage and claim victory in the 14th edition of the championship whose past participants include Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick.
As well as being runner-up in the 2023 US Junior Amateur Championship, Bai has the distinction of having been a member of the past two Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Bonallack Trophy teams that defeated their European Golf Association rivals in the Ryder Cup-style match play event in 2023 in Spain and this year in the United Arab Emirates.
Also part of those two teams was Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Minh, who is tied for sixth after a two-under 70 yesterday.
Two other members of the 2025 APGC team are also in the elite 36-player field for boys – Indian Kartik Singh and Thai Thanawin Lee. They teed-off their campaigns with rounds of 74 and 75 respectively.
Rounding out a seven-strong Asia-Pacific contingent are Robby Turnbull and Rayhan Latief.
Part of the New Zealand team, alongside Bai, at last year’s Nomura Cup, Turnbull carded a 73 to share 14th place, while Indonesian Latief is tied for 22nd after a 75.
In the girls’ division, which features 24 players, Thai Pimpisa Rubrong made three birdies against a solitary bogey to gain a share of the lead with Canadian Aphrodite Ding.
Just one stroke off the pace in equal third are Korean Oh Soo-min and China’s Liu Yujie. Like Pimpisa, they arrived in America in confident mood after strong showings at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific in Vietnam a fortnight ago.
There, Pimpisa was joint 20th, while Liu tied for seventh and Oh finished runner-up, one shot behind triumphant Malaysian Jeneath Wong.
Two other top-15 finishers in Vietnam – Australian Sarah Hammett and Thai Achiraya Sriwong – found the going a little harder at Sage Valley. Going into Thursday’s second round, Hammett is joint 19th after a 79 with Achiraya a further shot back in equal 21st.
