Alison Lee, Scott Scheffler named Rolex Junior Players of the Year

(BRASELTON, Ga.) - Alison Lee of Valencia, Calif., and Scott Scheffler of Dallas, were named Rolex Junior Players of the Year, the American Junior Golf Association announced.

Introduced by the AJGA in 1978, the Rolex Junior Player of the Year award recognizes one boy and one girl who had the most outstanding year in junior golf events at the national level. Past recipients have gone on to become some of the most esteemed players on the PGA and LPGA Tours, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, Brian Harman, Jordan Spieth, Vicky Hurst, Inbee Park, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.

In her final junior golf season, Lee, 18, won all three starts of 2013, competed for the victorious squads at the Wyndham Cup (West Team) and PING Junior Solheim Cup (United States), and earned the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings. The six-time, first-team Rolex Junior All-American totaled nine career AJGA victories, four coming at Invitationals: 2013 Rolex Tournament of Champions, 2013 Rolex Girls Junior Championship, 2012 The PING Invitational and 2012 ANNIKA Invitational.

Scheffler, 17, is the third Dallas native to be named Rolex Junior Player of the Year, five years after Jordan Spieth became the second. In July, Scheffler joined the same category as Spieth when he became the fifth Texan to win the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. That victory moved him to the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings, a seat he has held since July 30, 2013.

Lee and Scheffler's accomplishments during the 2013 season will be heralded Nov. 24 during the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The awards ceremony, dubbed "The Greatest Night in Junior Golf," will also trumpet the achievements of the rest of golf's next generation by means of the Rolex Junior All-America Teams, HP Scholastic Junior All-America Teams and Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award.

For more information, please contact Amanda Herrington (aherrington@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department at (678) 425-1789, or visit ajga.org.

About Alison Lee's 2013 Season
Lee, 18, added her name to an accomplished list of AJGA alumni as she closed her junior career with a bang. Since her AJGA debut in 2007, she accrued nine victories, four at AJGA Invitationals, six runner-up finishes and six years as a first-team Rolex Junior All-American.

After her second-round appearance at the Polo Golf Junior Classic in November 2012, Lee opened the year with a victory at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship in June. The following week, she won the ClubCorp Mission Hills Desert Junior for the second time and she tied the AJGA girls record for lowest 18-hole round when she fired a first-round 9-under-par 63.

In July, Lee was victorious at the AJGA's flagship event, the Rolex Tournament of Champions, becoming the first girl since 1992-93 Rolex Junior Player of the Year Kellee Booth to win both the Rolex Girls Junior Championship and Rolex Tournament of Champions in the same year.

Lee was integral to the success of match play squads in 2013. In January, she helped the four-man squad from the West capture the Winn Junior Cup Challenge. She was a member of the victorious West Team in July, making her third appearance at the Wyndham Cup. For her final AJGA event, Lee helped the U.S. squad win its third-straight PING Junior Solheim Cup.

Lee is currently a freshman at UCLA and recently notched her first collegiate victory at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational.

Alison Lee - 2013 season results
Junior tournaments (ranked in Polo Golf Rankings)
T9 * Polo Golf Junior Classic (2012)
Defeated by Alexandra Kaui, 1-up, in the second round
1 * Rolex Girls Junior Championship
1 * ClubCorp Mission Hills Desert Junior
1 * Rolex Tournament of Champions
* Wyndham Cup 3-1-0 record (5-7-0 career)
* PING Junior Solheim Cup 1-2-0 record (3-5-1 career)
Other tournaments (not factored into Rolex Junior Player of the Year considerations)
T5 U.S. Women's Amateur
Lost to champion Emma Talley, 1-up, in the semifinals
* Denotes AJGA event

About Scott Scheffler's 2013 season
Scheffler, 17, finished within the top 10 in all 2013 starts, including two runner-up finishes. He claimed the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings in July, after winning the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

As the No. 1 seed after stroke play at the Polo Golf Junior Classic in November 2012, Scheffler advanced to the final match, losing to Adam Wood, 3 and 1. Looking for his inaugural junior title, he tallied a string of consecutive runner-up finishes at the Jones Cup Junior Invitational in December, HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods in February and the Thunderbird International Junior in May.

After finishing T10 at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, Scheffler's breakout performance came at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Scheffler defeated Davis Riley, 3 and 2, to become the fifth player from Texas to win the event since Hunter Mahan in 1999, the same year Mahan was crowned Rolex Junior Player of the Year. Other Texas included AJGA alums Matthew Rosenfield (2000), Cory Whitsett (2007) and 2009 Rolex Junior Player of the Year Jordan Spieth (2009, '11).

A three-time Rolex Junior All-American, Scheffler represented the West for the third time at the Wyndham Cup, compiling a 7-4-1 career record. The Texas verbal commit closed the 2013 season with a sixth-place finish at The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf.

Scott Scheffler - 2013 season results
Junior tournaments (ranked in Polo Golf Rankings)
2 * Polo Golf Junior Classic (2012)
Lost to champion Adam Wood, 3 and 1, in the championship match
T2 Jones Cup Junior Invitational (2012)
T2 * Thunderbird International Junior
T10 * Rolex Tournament of Champions
1 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship
Defeated Davis Riley, 3 and 2, in the championship match
6 The Junior Players Championship presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf
* Wyndham Cup 1-2-0 record (5-7-0 career)
Other tournaments (not factored into Rolex Junior Player of the Year considerations)
T24 Dogwood Invitational
* Denotes AJGA event

Past Rolex Junior Players of the Year
BOYS DIVISION
2013 Scott Scheffler, Dallas, Texas
2012 Matthew NeSmith, North Augusta, S.C.
2011 Cody Proveaux, Leesville, S.C.
2010 Anthony Paolucci, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
2009 Jordan Spieth, Dallas, Texas
2008 Cameron Peck, Olympia, Wash.
2007 Peter Uihlein, Bradenton, Fla.
2006 Philip Francis, Scottsdale, Ariz.
2005 Peter Uihlein, Bradenton, Fla.
2004 Brian Harman, Savannah, Ga.
2003 Brian Harman, Savannah, Ga.
2002 Seung Su Han, Chino Hills, Calif.
2001 Casey Wittenberg, Memphis, Tenn.
2000 Matthew Rosenfeld, Plano, Texas
1999 Hunter Mahan, McKinney, Texas
1998 Erik Compton, Miami, Fla.
1998 Ryan Hybl, Colbert, Ga.
1997 David Gossett, Germantown, Tenn.
1996 Charles Howell, Augusta, Ga.
1995 Ryuji Imada, Tampa, Fla.
1994 Robert Floyd, Miami Beach, Fla.
1994 Joel Kribel, Pleasanton, Calif.
1993 Michael Henderson, Raleigh, N.C.
1992 Tiger Woods, Cypress, Calif.
1991 Tiger Woods, Cypress, Calif.
1990 Lee McEntee, Doylestown, Pa.
1989 David Duval, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
1988 Phil Mickelson, San Diego, Calif.
1987 Phil Mickelson, San Diego, Calif.
1986 Phil Mickelson, San Diego, Calif.
1985 Bobby May, La Habra, Calif.
1984 Brian Watts, Carrollton, Texas
1983 Bill McDonald, Dalton, Ga.
1982 Scott Verplank, Dallas, Texas
1981 Billy Andrade, Bristol, R.I.
1980 Tommy Moore, New Orleans, La.
1980 Tracy Phillips, Tulsa, Okla.
1979 Tracy Phillips, Tulsa, Okla.
1978 Willie Wood, Tucson, Ariz.

GIRLS DIVISION
2013 Alison Lee, Valencia, Calif.
2012 Ariya Jutanugarn, Bangkok, Thailand
2011 Ariya Jutanugarn, Bangkok, Thailand
2010 Kristen Park, Buena Park, Calif.
2009 Victoria Tanco, Bradenton, Fla.
2008 Victoria Tanco, Bradenton, Fla.
2007 Vicky Hurst, Melbourne, Fla.
2006 Esther Choe, Scottsdale, Ariz.
2005 Morgan Pressel, Boca Raton, Fla.
2004 Julieta Granada, Asuncion, Paraguay
2003 Paula Creamer, Pleasanton, Calif.
2002 Inbee Park, Eustis, Fla.
2001 Elizabeth Janangelo, West Hartford, Conn.
2000 Aree Song Wongluekiet, Bradenton, Fla.
1999 Candie Kung, Fountain Valley, Calif.
1998 Beth Bauer, Cramerton, N.C.
1997 Beth Bauer, Valrico, Fla.
1996 Grace Park, Phoenix, Ariz.
1995 Cristie Kerr, Miami, Fla.
1994 Grace Park, Phoenix, Ariz.
1993 Kellee Booth, Coto de Caza, Calif.
1992 Kellee Booth, Coto de Caza, Calif.
1991 Emilee Klein, Studio City, Calif.
1990 Vicki Goetze, Hull, Ga.
1989 Vicki Goetze, Hull, Ga.
1988 Brandi Burton, Rialto, Calif.
1988 Vicki Goetze, Hull, Ga.
1987 Michelle McGann, Riviera Beach, Fla.
1986 Adele Moore, Dallas, Texas
1985 Pearl Sinn, Bellflower, Calif.
1984 Susan Pager, Daphne, Ala.
1983 Melissa McNamara, Tulsa, Okla.
1982 Heather Farr, Phoenix, Ariz.
1981 Jenny Lidback, Baton Rouge, La.
1980 Heather Farr, Phoenix, Ariz.
1979 Penny Hammel, Decatur, Ill.
1978 Cathy Hanlon, Verdes Estates, Calif.

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