GRANITEVILLE, S.C. (March 14, 2026) – Perfect weather at Sage Valley set the stage for a historic finish at the 2026 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley today. Miles Russell becomes the first back-to-back champion in the boys field and Asterisk Talley becomes the first repeat winner in the girls field.
After two eagles today (holes 4 and 15), Russell finished the day at 5-under par 67 and 15-under par for the tournament, capturing the 2026 title by three shots over Tyler Watts, who finished at 12-under par 276.
“Rarely do I have an eagle round so to have two today is pretty special,” said Russell.
Russell started the day three shots off the lead but steadily climbed the leaderboard with his great play and low key demeanor. When asked about his calm approach and personality, he said, “I don’t know how I do it. Probably my personality. Don’t get too high, don’t get too low. I think just staying steady. That’s kinda something you need in this game. Thankfully, I’ve kinda been blessed with that.”
As the first player in tournament history to win the boys title in back-to-back years, Russell reflected on what the achievement means at a place like Sage Valley.
“It’s pretty special. Especially at a place like this that has so much class. You’re just lucky to be here. So, to be able to do it back to back, it’s quite an honor.”
In the girls’ field, Asterisk Talley delivered an equally dominant performance, claiming her second gold jacket and further cementing her place in Junior Invitational history. Talley shot five-under par 67 today, her low round of the tournament, to win by three shots ahead of Anna Iwanaga, who matched Talley’s 5-under round today and finished at 5-under 283. Yujie Liu finished in third place in the girls field with a final score of 2-under par 286.
Talley’s birdie on the par-3 16th proved to be a decisive moment in the final round and one that she reflected on after the round.
“My birdie on 16 today was really nice to just kind of top it off,” said Talley. “It was going to be really close if I didn’t make that birdie. Especially on such a tough hole, that was just the cherry on top.”
Talley reflected on what her second title at Sage Valley means to her. “It feels great. It gives me a lot of confidence on such a tough course to be able to do it twice. It’s just so nice to win here again. I love the atmosphere here so it’s nice to win again.”
The fact that both gold jackets ended up in the hands of friends wasn’t lost on either champion. “It’s great. Me and Miles are good friends so I think it’s nice for us to win this tournament,” said Talley. “I know it gives us both a lot of confidence so I mean we just had a great week this week and I think we’re going to take that with us for the next couple of tournaments.”
Russell echoed the sentiment and said, “It’s pretty cool. Probably out of all the girls, I probably know her the most just from Junior Ryder Cup. It’s pretty cool to see her win it again and I’m just glad I didn’t mess that up.”
Complete final results and scoring 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.