The United States Junior Ryder Cup team looks to be strong against its European counterpart, as the 2014 roster boasts an all-AJGA squad of experienced players in match and stroke play. The Junior Ryder Cup will be a mixture of foursomes, singles, and mixed four-ball matches played Sept. 22-23, at Blairgowrie Golf Club in Scotland.
No. 1 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Sam Burns of Shreveport, Louisiana, gained automatic entry by winning the 2014 Junior PGA Championship. In June, he set a new AJGA 72-hole scoring record after winning the Rolex Tournament of Champions with a 21-under-par 267. A two-time Wyndham Cup team member, Burns has gone 6-2-0 in his matches and was undefeated in 2014. He is a LSU commit and graduates in 2015.
Playing alongside Burns is his Wyndham Cup West teammate Kristen Gillman of Austin, Texas, who also won the 2014 Junior PGA Championship. Gillman was recently crowned champion of the 2014 U. S. Women’s Amateur Championship. The Alabama commit won the 2013 Genesis Shootout presented by the Valero Texas Open and is third in the Polo Golf Rankings. She posted a 2-2-0 record at the 2014 Wyndham Cup and made a semifinal appearance at the 2013 Polo Golf Junior Classic after taking medalist honors in stroke play.
Brad Dalke of Hobart, Oklahoma, a three-time Rolex Junior All-American, is No. 6 in the Polo Golf Rankings. The Oklahoma commit won two events in 2013 including the CB&I Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and The PING Invitational, and he has made four appearances at the Wyndham Cup from 2011-2014 with an 8-5-3 career record.
Davis Riley of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is No. 14 in the Polo Golf Rankings. The 2013 second-team Rolex Junior All-American has three top-five AJGA finishes and took home second place at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in 2013 and 2014. His AJGA match play experience includes a 2-2-0 record at the 2014 Wyndham Cup and two Polo Golf Junior Classic appearances highlighted by his 2012 Round of 16 performance.
Austin Connelly of Irving, Texas, is no stranger to victory or match play with the AJGA, after two Junior All-Star titles in 2011, titles at the 2013 Under Armour® / Hunter Mahan Championship and the 2014 FJ Invitational, and two Wyndham Cup appearances. The first-team Rolex Junior All-American and SMU commit will compete alongside his future college teammate Gordon Neale of Dove Canyon, California, who is 18th in the Polo Golf Rankings. The 2014 Junior PGA Championship runner-up has four top-five career AJGA finishes.
Winner of the 2013 Polo Golf Junior Classic Cameron Young of Scarborough, New York, is currently No. 13 in the Polo Golf Rankings. The 2015 high school graduate finished sixth at the 2014 Junior PGA Championship and made it to the quarterfinals of the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.
Stanford commit Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, California, is a three-time Rolex Junior All-American and holds the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings. The 2013 PING Junior Solheim Cup participant made history in the 2014 season winning the Rolex Tournament of Champions and the inaugural Yani Tseng Invitational presented by the Swinging Skirts. Lee competed for the West Team three times, posting a 10-2-0 career Wyndham Cup record. She recently advanced to the semifinals of the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.
Bethany Wu of Diamond Bar, California, has won four AJGA titles including back-to-back ANNIKA Invitiationals in 2013 and 2014. Wu was a 2013 PING Junior Solheim Cup Team USA participant, two-time Wyndham Cup West Team member, and she reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 Polo Golf Junior Classic. The 2015 high school graduate is a UCLA commit and is No. 2 in the Polo Golf Rankings.
USC commits Amy Lee of Brea, California, and Hannah O’Sullivan of Paradise Valley, Arizona, will also play on the Junior Ryder Cup U.S. team. Lee, a Wyndham Cup West Team member for three years, has won two AJGA events and is a three-time Rolex Junior All-American. The 2013 Junior PGA Championship winner represented the U.S. at the 2013 PING Junior Solheim Cup. O’Sullivan was a Wyndham Cup West Team member as well in 2013 and 2014 with a 4-3-1 record. The 2016 high school graduate recorded third-place finishes at the 2014 Rolex Girls Junior Championhip and the 2014 Junior PGA Championship.