Short Hills native Aphrodite Deng made a crucial par on the 18th hole to secure the win in the AJGA portion of the LPGA’s Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City. Needing a par on the final hole, Deng navigated a tricky approach shot from a fairway bunker on the right side of the final hole. “I was trying not to top it and hit the lip,” Deng said. “I was just trying to get it close to the green so I could get up-and-down, but it ended up rolling pretty close.” The shot just cleared the lip of the bunker and rocketed up the fairway with a low trajectory, skirting the greenside bunkers and finishing pin-high. Deng two-putted from about 10 feet for par, carding a 74 in the final round, including three birdies. The score translated to a 34 for a tournament total of 140, enough for a one-point victory in the modified Stableford scoring system. The AJGA event, run along with the LPGA tour event, paired the girls junior golfers with the top professional women’s golfers with the opportunity to walk the fairways together, under full tournament pressure. “The highlights were I got to play alongside Nelly Korda for both days, and it was really fun,” Deng said of playing alongside the world No. 1 ranked LPGA golfer. The pairing was the penultimate group of the day, with Deng starting the day one back and Korda tied for the lead. “It was really special being able to play alongside (Korda) and learn how she plays on the course and her game,” Deng said. A crowd lined the fairways for the group throughout the day with cheers of “you go Jersey Girl” for the talented 15-year-old. “Yeah, it was actually really fun and I wasn’t that nervous,” Deng said. “it was really special with a lot of people coming out to watch, my friends and family.” The AJGA tournament uses a modified Stableford scoring format where points will be awarded based on score for each individual hole - Double Eagle: 8 points; Eagle: 5 points; Birdie: 3 points; Par: 2 points; Bogey: 1 point; Double Bogey or worse: 0 points. Deng (32-39-35-34-140) held off Anna Fang, who closed with a 38-139 today. Deng is currently No. 7 in the country in the latest Rolex AJGA Rankings and No. 50 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). In her last AJGA start, Deng won by a six-stroke margin to win medalist honors at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, South Carolina back in mid-March. Deng now has four AJGA victories and also won the Nelly Invitational presented by Chevron in 2024, hosted by Nelly Korda. Jeeno Thitikul shot 69 today, finishing -17 to win on the LPGA side, a four-shot cushion over Celine Boutier in second place. Korda finished -11 (T-5).