While they won’t get to square off against their European counterparts as planned, 12 junior golfers have been named to the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team, a co-ed squad of up-and-coming golfers that has included some big-name alumni through the years, from Lexi Thompson to Justin Thomas.
This year’s squad of 12 – six boys and six girls – will travel to Whistling Straits’ Straits Course later this month to compete in an exhibition match at Whistling Straits on Wednesday, Sept. 22. They will also participate in the Ryder Cup Opening Ceremony and attend the first day of competition. The junior matches against Europe were canceled due to ongoing travel issues for the European Junior Ryder Cup team.
The U.S. team is as follows:
Boys
- Luke Clanton, 17, Miami Lakes, Florida
- Nick Dunlap, 17, Huntsville, Alabama
- Ben James, 18, Milford, Connecticut
- Bryan Lee, 17, Fairfax, Virginia
- Caleb Surratt, 17, Indian Trail, North Carolina
- Wells Williams, 17, West Point, Mississippi
Girls
- Anna Davis, 15, Spring Valley, California
- Megha Ganne, 17, Holmdel, New Jersey
- Sophie Linder, 17, Carthage, Tennessee
- Julia Misemer, 17, Overland Park, Kansas
- Alexa Pano, 17, Lake Worth, Florida
- Avery Zweig, 14, McKinney, Texas
To be eligible for the team, players must be U.S. citizens and part of the 2022 high school graduating class or younger. The U.S. roster includes both the Junior PGA champion in Surratt and the Girls Junior PGA champion, Davis. U.S. Junior champion Nick Dunlap will also represent the U.S.
James will play fresh off last week’s victory at the Junior Players Championship and Ganne, the low amateur at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, arrives after a hectic few weeks that included a trip to the Curtis Cup in Wales as a U.S. team alternate and a turn on the U.S. Junior Solheim Cup team. Three other players were also members of the latter team: Zweig, Pano and Davis.
Only Pano returns from the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team that competed in Paris in 2018.