Pano’s First LPGA Tour Victory, Dunlap’s Historic U.S. Amateur Win Cap Momentous Weekend for Dustin Johnson World Junior Champions
Sunday was a landmark day for two former winners of the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship Presented by LA Golf, as one picked up her first LPGA Tour victory while another joined Tiger Woods as the only two golfers in history to achieve a significant USGA milestone.
Earlier in the day, two-time DJ World Junior champion Alexa Pano celebrated her 19th birthday in grand style, carding a birdie on her third playoff hole to fend off two challengers and win the ISPS HANDA World Invitational Presented by AVIV Clinics in Northern Ireland. The victory becomes Pano’s first title on both the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET).
Pano, who won consecutive girls’ division titles at the DJ World Junior at TPC Myrtle Beach in 2018 and 2019, became the second former champion in as many months to notch their first professional victory at the highest level. In July, 2019 DJ World Junior boys’ champ Akshay Bhatia won the PGA TOUR’s Barracuda Championship.
Meanwhile, in the final of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Cherry Hills C.C. in Colorado, 2021 DJ World Junior champion Nicholas Dunlap defeated Neal Shipley, 4 and 3, to become the second golfer ever to win both the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Junior Amateur (2021). Tiger Woods won three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateurs (1991-1993) and U.S. Amateurs (1994-1996) before embarking on his legendary professional career.
To advance to Sunday’s final Dunlap, a sophomore at Alabama, had to get past 2023 DJ World Junior boys’ champion Jackson Koivun, who took Dunlap to 19 holes in Friday’s quarterfinals before heading off to begin his college career at Auburn. Koivun had advanced to the quarterfinals along with 2022 DJ World Junior boys’ champion Ben James, a sophomore at Virginia who, like Koivun, extended his quarterfinal match to 19 holes before bowing out.
These achievements at the game’s top professional and amateur levels are the latest that underscore the annual strength of field of the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship Presented by LA Golf. The DJ World Junior has proudly hosted an international field comprised of the game’s best junior golfers in each of its past eight events.
The tournament, for boys and girls ages 13-18, features 90 players from around the world and is contested each March at TPC Myrtle Beach, a renowned venue with an illustrious history of hosting elite events featuring the world’s top senior (2000 Senior Tour Championship), collegiate (2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Regional Championship) and junior golfers.
With the support of Johnson, the world’s top-ranked player for more than two years, the tournament provides participants a TOUR-like experience, and the chance to test themselves against premier players from across the globe.
Stay tuned to PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com for future announcements of 2024 DJ World Junior dates, qualifying information, player fields and more.
