A year ago at the Golfweek International Junior Invitational, Mara King took the first-round lead and, despite being outplayed in the second round, still finished in the top 5. Those memories were still fresh enough in King’s mind that when she made the return trip to Celebration Golf Club in Celebration, Florida, this week, she was able to use them for motivation.
“I think I’ve put myself in the position to be in contention enough that this year I kind of was calm enough to know I was capable of doing it,” said King, who lives in nearby Lake Mary, Florida. “Last year I placed well, and I’ve played a lot of tournaments here and I’m comfortable here so, played well.”
For the second year in a row, King opened the tournament with even-par 72. But on Sunday, she came back with a 2-under 70. That was good for a two-shot victory over Sahana Chokshi of Jacksonville, Florida.
Scores: Golfweek International Junior
Even better, King birdied her final two holes Sunday to create that margin of victory. It’s a testament to the focus she displayed in a close competition. Despite knowing scores were tight, King tried to focus on herself and ignore the leaderboard.
“I just know the best I can do is all I can do,” she reasoned.
King’s card was a bit colorful in the first round, and it included two bogeys and a double-bogey on the back nine. Still, King did more than enough to make up for it – she had nine birdies on the weekend.
King credits her putting, but also noted she scrambled well.
“If I missed a green or hit a bad tee shot I could recover well and I think that saved me from a lot of bogeys happening,” she said.
King, a senior at Lake Mary High School, has been committed to Penn State since last October. She’s in the thick of her high school golf season and hasn’t competed in a national event since August, when she played the AJGA Junior at Toftrees and placed third.
She has a Florida Junior Tour event coming up next month and hopes she’ll earn a spot in the Sally, a prestigious women’s amateur event, in January.
Junzhe Wang after winning the boys’ title.
In the boys division, Junzhe Wang prevailed in a similarly close competition. Wang, who attends the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, finished 36 holes at 3 under, which was one shot better than both Haikal Putera and Nathan Le-Nguyen.
Wang fired rounds of 70-71. He began his weekend with back-to-back birdies on Saturday and he ended the first round with a birdie, too. The second round began a little slower – with Wang making three bogeys in his first four holes, but he played the rest of the round in 4 under to win the tournament.
“Just kind of like play it one shot at a time, try my best,” Wang said. “If I won or would not, it doesn’t really matter to me. Just try my best is all that matters.”
After his victory, Wang noted that he had made some clutch putts and that his iron play helped him considerably.
In September, Wang won a Florida Junior Tour event at Duran Golf Club in Viera, Florida. Wang, who will graduate high school in 2027, hopes to play college golf in the U.S. but hasn’t made any commitments.