Six Players to Watch at the 2024 Junior PGA Championship

Two of golf’s major junior championships—the 48th Junior PGA Championships—are underway at storied Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

The Junior PGA Championships are open to amateurs no older than 18 years of age on August 2, and all contestants must have qualified through a PGA of America Section Championship or have been granted an exemption into the field.

The four-day, 72-hole event will feature 312 players—156 girls, 156 boys—playing concurrently. The first two rounds will be played on both the Blue and Gold Courses at Congressional before moving exclusively to the Blue Course for the final two rounds.

Competing for the Patty Berg Trophy, the girls field features seven of the top 15 junior players, according to the Rolex American Junior Golf Association Rankings while the top male junior golfers, competing for the Jack Nicklaus Trophy, feature seven of the top 15 junior players.

Here are six players to keep an eye on at Congressional:

The No. 5-ranked golfer on the AJGA Rankings, Talley is a two-time Junior All-American, earning First Team honors in 2023. She won the 2024 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley after posting three wins in 2023 at the C.T. Pan Foundation Championship and Rolex Girls Junior Championship. The 15-year-old was the runner-up at the 75th U.S. Girls' Junior Championship earlier in July and made the cut to finish as the co-low amateur at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open.

One of the youngest players in the field at 14, Deng is currently ranked No. 6 on the AJGA Rankings and was a 2023 Honorable Mention Rolex Junior All-American. Deng’s strong season has included wins at the 2023 Rolex Tournament of Champions, the inaugural The Nelly Invitational in May and the New Jersey State Golf Association Junior Girls’ Championship in June.

Currently No. 9 on the AJGA Rankings, Lee boasts top 10 finishes in her last three AJGA events: Mizuho Americas Open (5th), The Nelly Invitational (T-6) and Fortinet Girls Invitational at Stanford (T-2). The 2022 Junior All-American will be playing at Northwestern University starting in the fall.

The No. 4-ranked golfer on the AJGA Rankings, Badgett has had a strong 2024 with wins at the RLX Ralph Lauren Junior Classic, UNIQLO / Adam Scott Junior Championship and Visit Goldsboro NC Junior Championship. The 16-year-old also finished T-5 at the 2024 Wyndham Invitational presented by Odyssey.

Currently No. 5 on the AJGA Rankings, Hartman returns to the Junior PGA Championship after finishing T-5 in 2023. A member of the 2023 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team, he won the 29th Annual Bobby Chapman in October and finished T-5 at the 2024 RLX Ralph Lauren Junior Classic. Hartman, who turned 18 over the weekend, was a 2023 First Team Junior All-America and is verbally committed to play golf at Vanderbilt University.

The son of five-time PGA TOUR winner Jonathan Byrd, Jackson Byrd returns to the Junior PGA Championship following a runner-up finish in 2023. The No. 6-ranked AJGA golfer was a member of the 2023 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team and is a two-time Honorable Mention Junior All-American. Byrd, who will celebrate his 18th birthday on the opening day of the 2024 Junior PGA Championships, finished T-3 at the 2024 RLX Ralph Lauren Junior Classic and T-6 at the 2024 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.