Charlottesville, Va. – Virginia junior golfer Riley Smyth (Cary, N.C.) is one of 20 players named to the 2021 Annika Award Watch List. The Annika Award is presented annually to the nation’s most outstanding female collegiate golfer.

Smyth did not compete during the fall for UVA after having her spring season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  She had a breakout week at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, finishing tied for fifth in stroke play and advancing to the quarterfinals of that event. Earlier this month she won the Golfweek Carolina Country Club Amateur.

The award is named for former LPGA champion Annika Sorenstam, who won 89 professional events and 10 major titles during her 15 years as a professional.

Sorenstam enrolled at the University of Arizona in the fall of 1990 and won seven titles during her collegiate career. She was the first foreign-born player and first freshman to win the individual NCAA Championship. She also won the 1991 National Co-Player of the Year Award, was the 1992 Pac-10 Champion and was named to the 1991-1992 All-American team. In 1992, Annika was a runner-up for the National Player of the Year Award and finished second to Vicki Goetze at the United States Women’s Amateur Golf Championship.