GRANITEVILLE, S.C. (March 12, 2026) – Storms passed through the area this morning and delayed the start of the second round of the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, bringing much cooler temperatures for the players to contend with this afternoon. Miles Russell shot 2-under par to maintain his lead over the boys field while Aphrodite Deng pulled ahead of the girls field by one after shooting even par.
“The weather was definitely a little different today,” said Russell. “Yesterday we had nice weather and then it was a little windy. And today it was windy and just cold and a little wet in the beginning.”
After a bit of back and forth on the front nine with three birdies and three bogeys, Russell steadied himself on the back and finished 2-under on the last nine holes to remain at the top of the leaderboard by two shots.
“I didn’t play great the last few holes yesterday and unfortunately, I just kinda rolled into the round today, I’d say, just a little bit,” recounts Russell. “I played better on the back side today. Not quite as shaky as yesterday’s back nine. But, it was a solid day.”
The low round of the day in the boys field goes to Mason Howell from Thomasville, Georgia, and local Augusta favorite, Hamilton Coleman, as both shot 4-under par 68. Coleman credits some big putts in his first few holes as a key reason for his success today.
“I had like 100 ft of putts made in three holes, so that got the round off to a good start,” said Coleman. When asked about what it feels like to play so close to home, he said “It’s awesome. I have family and friends coming pretty much every day. Seeing familiar faces and knowing that they’re supporting me has been great and it kinda helps me realize what I’m playing here for.”
On the girls side, Deng’s strategy paid off today as she played steady through the conditions with just two bogeys and two birdies to stay at even par for the day.
“I was just trying to make as many pars as I could. I saved a lot of shots and just going into the day knowing the conditions were tough and everyone is going to make mistakes helped.”
The top of the girls field remains close after two rounds. Japan’s Anna Iwanaga recorded the low round of the day for the girls, and the only score under par, at 3-under and moved into solo second at 1-under. Asterisk Talley and Yujie Liu sit in a tie for third, just two strokes behind Deng.
The third round of play is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday Live scoring and pairings can be found at www.juniorinvitational.com.
About the Junior Invitational
The 14th annual Junior Invitational features 24 of the top junior girl players and 36 of the top boy players in the world. Recognized by Golfweek as the No. 1 junior event in golf, the Junior Invitational welcomes the best golfers from around the world to Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, S.C. Founded in 2011, the Junior Invitational has become one of the most desired invitations in the world of competitive junior golf. Past participants have included some of the top names in golf: Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Colin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Young, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Anna Davis, Megha Ganne and more. For more information and tickets, visit www.juniorinvitational.com.