JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The Mizuho Americas Open doesn’t just provide LPGA Tour athletes with first-class treatment at a pristine venue overlooking the New York City skyline – it also inspires the next generation. Since the event’s inaugural edition in 2023, tournament host Michelle Wie West has made sure that 24 of the top girl golfers from the American Junior Golf Association were included in her legacy event, something that has continued to make the Mizuho Americas Open one of the most unique championships in all of golf. The juniors compete in their own Stableford competition throughout the week at Liberty National Golf Club, and the player with the most points come Sunday afternoon in Jersey City, N.J. will join 2023 winner Yana Wilson, who is now teeing it up as a pro in the 2025 field, and 2024 Gianna Clemente as the third Mizuho Americas Open AJGA champion.

Take a closer look at just a few of the juniors who will be playing alongside the LPGA Tour’s best this week in the Garden State.

Gianna Clemente

Gianna Clemente is the defending champion of the AJGA portion of the Mizuho Americas Open, having won the Stableford competition at Liberty National Golf Club in 2024. The 17-year-old has teed it up in eight LPGA Tour events throughout her amateur career, three of which she Monday qualified for back in 2022 as a 14-year-old and two of which the Florida native has competed in this year, finishing T30 at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February and then tying for 71st and earning low amateur honors at The Chevron Championship last month.

Clemente is one of several players who have accrued points as part of the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway program that was announced earlier this season. She has tallied three points thus far that she earned by being named the Girls Rolex Player of the Year in 2024, finishing in the top 30 and ties in Thailand and making the cut in her major debut at The Chevron Championship. Some of Clemente’s other accomplishments include winning the 2023 Girls’ Junior PGA Championship, winning the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball alongside Avery Zweig and participating on two U.S. PING Junior Solheim Cup Teams.

Sofia Cherif Essakali

Sofia Cherif Essakali won two AJGA tournaments in 2024, taking home the AJGA Junior at Parris Island title in June of last year and then winning again the next week at the Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational. She was a member of the victorious U.S. PING Junior Solheim Cup Team in 2024 and has two Pan Arab Women’s Championship victories on her resume. The young Moroccan teed it up for the first time in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur this past April and ultimately missed the cut at Champions Retreat Golf Club. She is making her Mizuho Americas Open debut at Liberty National Golf Club this week.

Avery McCrery

Avery McCrery entered the week at the Mizuho Americas Open at third in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, behind Asterisk Talley and Gianna Clemente, who are in first and second, respectively. McCrery won both the 2024 Scott Robertson Memorial last May and the Girl’s Junior PGA Championship last July and has signed a national letter of intent to play collegiate golf at Duke University. She was a member of the winning 2024 U.S. PING Junior Solheim Cup Team and played in her first Augusta National Women’s Amateur last month, ultimately missing the cut in her debut in the prestigious championship. This is McCrery’s debut in the AJGA portion of the Mizuho Americas Open.

Asterisk Talley

Asterisk Talley has quickly become one of the most recognizable names in junior golf over the past couple of years and will be working hard to add the Mizuho Americas Open title to her list of amateur accolades. She has played in three LPGA Tour events over the past two years, two of which were major championships – the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club and the 2025 Chevron Championship. She is another young player who has already earned points in the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway program, all three of which she earned in 2024 by making the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open (1) and playing on the U.S. Curtis Cup Team (2).

Talley finished seventh in this event last season, but she comes to Liberty National Golf Club having picked up a couple of wins already in 2025 at the Hilton Grand Vacations ANNIKA Invitational presented by Rolex, which earned her a spot in the amateur field at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on the LPGA Tour, and The Fortinet Stanford Invitational hosted by Rose Zhang, the namesake of which won the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open in her pro debut. She also won The PING Invitational on the AJGA last October.

Featured Amateurs: 2025 Mizuho Americas Open

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