Sixteen-year-old Clairey Lin of Canada wins the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Clairey Lin of Canada won the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship on Saturday, beating Amelie Zalsman of St. Petersburg, Fla., 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Old Chatham Golf Club.

The 16-year-old Lin, from Langley, B.C., is the second straight Canadian winner. Aphrodite Deng won last year in Georgia.

“I’ve always wanted to be on the big stage and inspire some people and work hard and see it pay off,” Lin said. “To be able to do that today is amazing. Still haven’t processed it yet, but it’s pretty cool.”

“ … I remember seeing when Aphrodite won last year, I was really stoked for her, and I was really happy that Canada had its first U.S. Girls’, I think, and coming in this week, of course, I knew I wanted to do it again,” added Lin.