Boca's Bryant at 'home' in defending Jr. Orange Bowl crown; Zhou also eyes title defense

 

 

 

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (Jan. 2, 2025) — The first time Kayla Bryant teed it up at the Junior Orange Bowl International golf championships, she placed third behind two of the nation’s top college recruits. Last year, she was a runaway winner.

 

“I just feel at home here,” Bryant said Thursday as she returned to the historic Biltmore Golf Club. “I don’t know how to describe it. I feel so free and calm when I tee it up here.”

 

Now the Boca Raton golfer has an opportunity to take her Junior Orange Bowl experience to a level that hasn’t been seen since well before she was born — become a multiple winner of the prestigious junior golf showcase.

 

Not since the 1990s, when Grace Park won twice in a four-year span, has someone put his or her name on the trophy more than once. And while every champion that comes back has the chance to rewrite that passage, Bryant’s history and comfort level may give her a leg up.

 

“It’s definitely a special opportunity and something I’m not taking for granted,” Bryant said. “My name’s already on that trophy, so I’m just going to go out and play my best.”

 

In a rare occurrence, both of last year’s champions are back to defend this week. So Darren Zhou finds himself with the same opportunity — which would be a greater rarity since the boys’ side has never produced a multiple winner since the event launched 60 years ago.

 

“Knowing where my game is now, really anything could happen,” said Zhou, a Hong Kong native who endured a roller-coaster 2024 as he retooled his swing amid a growth spurt.

 

In all, 48 boys and 38 girls are set to tee it up Friday, with the rest seeking to join Bryant and Zhou on a list of Junior Orange Bowl champions highlighted by Tiger Woods (1991), LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park (2002), LPGA major winners Lexi Thompson (2009) and Brooke Henderson (2013) and recent Saudi International winner Joaquin Niemann (2014).

 

“It’s a lot of notable players, to say the least,” said Zhou, who also holds a spot in the Junior Orange Bowl record book as its youngest winner, emerging from a pack last year to triumph at age 13.

 

Bryant’s victory was of the wire-to-wire variety, turning in three of the five sub-70 girls’ scores that were recorded in last year’s blustery winds. She also produced a streak of 33 consecutive bogey-free holes across her final two rounds, pulling away to win by five.

 

“I just remember playing so solid and so freely,” Bryant said. “I was in a great state of mind that week and played some really consistent golf. I was really proud of my play.”

 

It proved a springboard to a stellar 2024 that ended with Bryant named a second-team Rolex Junior All-America. She also won the AJGA Adam Scott Junior Championship, reached the Doherty Women’s Amateur semifinals and was part of a record-breaking Team USA at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup.

 

Now she’ll endeavor to become just the fourth golfer to claim two Junior Orange Bowl crowns. The first three all were future LPGA material — Michelle McGann (1985-86), Kellee Booth (1991-92) and Park (1993, ’96).

 

“I love pressure,” Bryant said. “I feel like pressure forces me to play better. You just get into a different mental state — you walk in just really focused.”

 

She figures to face a strong challenge from California’s Samantha Chiou, who won the Evian Junior Championship in France, and North/South Junior titleholder Hallie Wilson. Lauren Crump is England’s reigning junior champion, while Shauna Liu won the Canadian Girls’ Junior and was a Junior All-America honorable mention.

 

Zhou turned a three-shot deficit entering last year’s final day into a two-shot triumph, seizing control by playing his first seven holes in 4-under par. That included holing out a flop shot at No. 7 that pushed him into the lead.

 

He also had to negotiate a tricky two-putt at the 18th, watching his first attempt from some 70 feet away go over a ridge and stop just two feet from the flagstick.

 

“That was a big sense of relief,” he recalled, “because I didn’t know what the guys behind me were doing. I figured I needed to two-putt to win or at least get into a playoff.”

 

Zhou, though, struggled to build on that momentum over the rest of 2024. He’s filled out physically over the past 12 months, necessitating changes in his swing as he worked with his IMG Academy coaches.

 

“I pretty much reconstructed my swing everywhere,” he said. “I had to change out my clubs, and that turned out to be really difficult.”

 

He found some light in November with a victory at the PrimeTime Junior Invitational in Orlando, finishing 67-68 on the way to an eight-shot romp.

 

“The scores are coming back,” he said, “and I feel it’s just a matter of time until I get on a good streak.”

 

The boys’ competition also includes Bryson Hughes, who tied for third last year and reached the final 16 at last summer’s U.S. Junior Amateur. Colombia’s Samuel Gonzalez is the reigning South American Junior champion; Keegan Shutt is Zimbabwe’s amateur champion and shot a course-record 62 at the Africa Amateur. 

 

This year’s field brings together entrants from such diverse locales as Bermuda, Switzerland, Ecuador, Czechia, Paraguay, Peru, Iceland, Bolivia and Turkey.

 

The tournament also welcomes new sponsor Babygrande Golf, a multimedia company that also underwrites two other junior events.

 

Live scoring can be found all week at JuniorOrangeBowl.org/golf.

 

The Golf Championship is one of nine athletic, artistic and cultural events that make up the Junior Orange Bowl International Youth Festival, which marks its 76th anniversary in 2023-24. The festival draws more than 7,500 youth participants to South Florida’s community each year.

 

For more information on the Golf Championships or other Junior Orange Bowl activities, visit JuniorOrangeBowl.org.