[Photo: Golf Australia]
Australia’s Amelia Harris fired a 9-under 63 to surge to a three-shot lead after the opening round of the 2026 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, while compatriot Lara Thomsen sits inside the top 10 in a share of seventh.
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Harris caught fire on the back nine at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina, carding eight birdies and just one par at the par-3 12th to post the lowest stroke-play score at the championship since Rose Zhang’s second-round 62 in 2021.
“I just couldn’t miss a putt on the back nine,” Harris said.
The reigning Australian Junior Amateur champion from Victoria made a steady start with two birdies on her opening nine before a bogey at the ninth briefly halted her momentum.
“Coming through the turn, I had missed a really short putt on nine and I was just like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do that anymore,'” she said.
From there, her brilliant back nine culminated in a dramatic 40-foot birdie putt at the 18th, putting the exclamation point on a remarkable performance.
Ranked No.66 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Harris’ opening-round performance continues a breakthrough year, highlighted by her national junior amateur title and first professional victory at a regional qualifying event for the 2026 Ford NSW Open.
It is the 18-year-old’s third appearance at the U.S. Girls’ Junior, as she looks to build momentum heading into the second round of stroke play on Tuesday and secure a place in the match play bracket starting Wednesday.
“It can be rewarding, but it can be quite tough if you’re having a hard day,” Harris said of the Old Chatham layout.
“Today was one of those rewarding days, so we’ll see how I go tomorrow.”
Fellow Australian Thomsen also impressed, carding a 4-under 68 to sit tied seventh in her tournament debut alongside China’s Yujie Liu.
The New South Wales representative started on the back foot with bogeys in her first two holes, before responding immediately with a birdie at the par-4 third and adding three more birdies to make the turn at 2-under.
The reigning NSW Amateur champion dropped a shot at the 12th before sinking three more birdies across her final six holes to sit inside the top 10 and comfortably inside the top 64 who will advance to the match play bracket after the second round of stroke play.
The highest-ranked player in the field, Japan’s Anna Iwanaga (WAGR No.16), sits tied second at 6-under alongside Canada’s Clairey Lin and Singapore’s Xingtong Chen.
Korea’s Seoh Kim and America’s Amelie Zalsman are tied fifth at 5-under, one stroke ahead of Thomsen.
Thomsen will tee off the second round at 1:48pm local time (3:48am AEDT), with tournament leader Harris shortly after at 2:19pm local time (4:19am AEDT).
