Gog Magog, England: Sabrina Wong of Hong Kong, China won the R&A Girls’ Under-16 Amateur Championship, recording a one-shot victory over Hannah Lee-McNamara of Ireland.

Wong has been making history since she became hooked on golf as a two-year-old. Now 13, she added another chapter to her incredible story at Gog Magog by becoming the first player to win both the Girls’ Under-16 Amateur and the prize for the championship’s leading player under the age of 14.

The Scotland-based, Hong Kong, China native, won the championship proper by one stroke from Royal Portrush member Lee-McNamara following a dramatic finish.

Overnight leader Wong needed a birdie at the par-five 18th to prevail on 10-under-par and secure the Angela Uzielli Trophy after Lee-McNamara had eagled the last hole to complete a superb 65 – the low score of the day.

First-round leader Salome Lumbaca (70) of France was third on eight-under, while her compatriot Axelle Guillemard (66) took fourth on seven-under.

Wong’s 10-under 203 aggregate (67, 66 and 70) is the lowest 54-hole total in the championship’s history, and sets a record for the most strokes under par. Louise Landgraf and Charlotte McNaughton each finished on eight-under last year before Landgraf prevailed in a play-off.

Wong is the youngest champion since the Girls’ Under-16 Amateur was created in 2018. In addition to her overall victory, she lifted the Liz Pook Trophy for the second consecutive year as the leading player under the age of 14, taking that piece of silverware by nine shots over Switzerland’s Lana Guyot.

Wong, who has appeared in the past two editions of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP), said: “I like the sound of being the R&A Girls’ Under-16 champion. This is my biggest win because it was such a strong field.

“It’s actually a dream come true because last year I won the under-14 trophy and I really wanted to win the main trophy this year. Now I want to come back and win it again next year.”

Wong took a two-shot lead into the final round but was unable to convert a host of chances over the first 17 holes that would have given her a comfortable finish.

A trio of gains at the seventh, eighth and 12th were cancelled out by dropped shots on the sixth, 13th and 16th. She ultimately needed to get up and down for birdie at the last to avoid a play-off with Lee-McNamara after the latter’s eagle on 18.

Wong missed the green with her seven-iron approach to the par-five but holed her birdie putt after chipping to 10 feet.

She added: “My hands were really shaking over that final putt. I wasn’t nervous when I started, but I was on the last two holes because I had missed so many birdie putts. So I was glad to make that putt at the last.

“When I was younger I could not play under pressure. The reason I finished second all the time was because I couldn’t play under pressure. This win proves I can play under pressure against such a big field. This experience will help me a lot in the future.”

Cathkin Braes Golf Club member Wong is now sure to race up the World Amateur Golf Ranking from her current position of 552nd when the list is updated on Wednesday.

It is her third win of the season following emphatic recent successes in the SGF Classic and Daily Mail World Junior Golf Championship. She won the former by 13 shots and the latter by 15.

Wong, who attends Williamwood High School in Clarkston, Glasgow, first got the golf bug as a two-year-old when she watched her dad hitting balls at a driving range. She tried ice skating and ballet as a child, but it was golf that garnered all her attention.

She was a member of the Hong Kong Golf Association’s junior squad by the time she was seven. In 2023 she won the girls’ 11-age division of the US Kids Golf European Championship by 15 shots and the girls’ under-12 division of the Champion of Champions in Northern Ireland by a dozen strokes. She also won the Scottish Girls’ Open under-12 title and was runner-up in the under-14 competition.

In 2024 she was the youngest player, at the age of 12, to compete in the WAAP. She finished an impressive 46th this year on her second appearance.

Parents Manson and Carol made the decision to move to from Hong Kong, China to Scotland in 2023 to further their daughter’s golfing career. As Sabrina proved at Gog Magog, that decision continues to pay dividends.