Olympia
Fields, Ill – Stroke-play medalist Ariya Jutanugarn and 2008 runner-up Karen
Chung were among eight players who advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal round of
match play at the 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, conducted on the 6,403-yard,
par-72 South Course at Olympia Fields Country Club.
For the first time this week, Bangkok-native Jutanugarn, 15, admitted to
noticing the heat, which hovered in the upper 90s all day and easily felt like
triple digits. She also finally took some heat from a competitor, as Canada’s
Jisoo Keel took her the full 18 holes. This was the first match in which
Jutanugarn went past the 15th green.
While Jutanugarn never trailed, Keel never let her get too far ahead. Her lead
never exceeded two holes, despite carding six birdies.
I could make birdies, but I could not save my score, so I had four bogeys,
said Jutanugarn, who upset defending champion Alexis Thompson
in 2009’s third round to advance to the Girls’ Junior quarterfinals. So that’s
why [it was] 2 up, 1 up and all square all the time.
The match went to the 18th all square, and Keel stuck her third shot to a mere 5 feet right of the hole.
With the match on the line, Jutanugarn went to her usual source of information
and comfort – her caddie-sister, Moriya.
My sister, she told me, ‘You have to get closer,’ said Jutanugarn.
And get it closer she did. Jutanugarn’s chip from 75 yards came to 3 feet, and when Keel’s 5
footer for birdie lipped out, Jutanugarn calmly drained her birdie putt for the
win.
I just hope tomorrow I can make birdies like today and I want to save my
score, said Jutanugarn, the winner of the 2011 Rolex Girls Junior
Championship. I want, tomorrow, no bogeys.
Jutanugarn advanced to the round of 16 with a steady 4-and-3 win over Sarah Schmelzel
in the morning’s round of 32. She took an early 1-up lead when Schmelzel
bogeyed the par-4 second hole and went on from there to a four-hole victory.
Jutanugarn will face fellow 15-year-old Gabriella Then
of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., in Friday’s quarterfinals. It will
be a rematch of sorts, as Then defeated Jutanugarn in a one-hole playoff to win
the 2011 Rolex Tournament of Champions. Both players also competed in the 2011
U.S. Women’s Open.
Then has had just as smooth a week as Jutanugarn, with early-round 7-and-6 and
3-and-2 victories under her belt. Her third-round match was no exception, as
she needed only 14 holes to defeat Caroline Araskog
by a 5-and-4 margin.
Despite the final margin of victory, Then did face her first deficit of match
play when Araskog stuck her approach shot to the par-4 first hole to 2 inches and converted the
birdie attempt.
I was kind of like, ‘Come on, let’s go,’ said Then. I knew we had a lot of
holes to go, but once you’re down, it can go any way.
Then took that notion to heart and quickly regrouped to win the following four
holes and ultimately pull away for a comfortable win.
I just kept going from there, said Then of that four-hole stretch. I kept
playing consistently and didn’t let her take holes from me.
Karen Chung, 16, of Livingston, N.J.,
never trailed for a single hole on Thursday. The 2008 runner-up cruised through
the morning round, en route to a 5-and-3 victory over Paige Lee.
She was never able to build more than a 2-up lead over 15-year-old Ashlan Ramsey,
of Milledgeville, Ga., in the afternoon round, but eventually
pulled out a nail-biter 1-up victory.
My hands were shaking. They’re still shaking, said Chung, who had not
advanced past the third round of a Girls’ Junior since losing to Alexis
Thompson in the 2008 championship final.
Chung will face Yu Liu,
15, of the People’s Republic of China
in the third match of Friday’s quarterfinal round.
Like Chung, Liu took a 1-up lead to
the 18th in her match against Californian Anne Cheng. Despite sending her drive
underneath a tree to the right of the fairway, Liu was able to stick her
approach from 200 yards
to 6 feet
and two-putt to halve the hole and take the victory.
I’m extremely nervous, said an obviously relieved Liu after the match. It
was really, really tight.
Friday’s second quarterfinal match will feature Amy
Lee and Talia Campbell,
who are both competing in their first USGA championship. Lee,
14, of Brea, Calif.,
knocked off Alison Lee,
1 up, while Campbell,
17, of Dallas, Texas, eliminated 2011 U.S. Women’s Open
competitor Mariah
Stackhouse by a 4-and-3 margin.
Also advancing were Summar Roachell, who defeated Chung
in the first round in 2010, and Girls’ Junior veteran Dottie Ardina.
Roachell, a 15-year-old from Conway,
Ark., came back from an early
deficit to beat Aurora
Kan, 5 and 3. Ardina, a native of the Philippines who is
competing in her fourth Girls’ Junior at age 17, went the full 18 holes with Yueer Cindy
Feng and finally took a 1-up
victory.
Defending Girls’ Junior runner-up Katelyn
Dambaugh and 2011 Women’s Open competitor Emma Talley
were both defeated in Thursday’s morning round. Casie
Cathrea and Eimi Koga,
who finished second and third, respectively, in stroke-play qualifying, were
also eliminated.
The 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior will continue with the quarterfinal and semifinal
matches on Friday. The 36-hole championship final will be played Saturday.
The U.S. Girls’ Junior is one of 13 championships conducted annually by the
United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
Olympia
Fields, Ill. – Results from Thursday’s second round of match play at the 2011
U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, being conducted on the 6,403-yard, par-72
South Course at Olympia Fields Country Club (All times CDT):
Upper Bracket
Ariya Jutanugarn, Thailand
(140) def. Sarah
Schmelzel, Phoenix, Ariz.
(150), 4 and 3
Jisoo Keel, Canada
(148) def. Katelyn
Dambaugh, Goose Creek, S.C.
(152), 3 and 1
Gabriella Then,
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
(147) def. Maria
Fernanda Torres,
Puerto Rico (151), 3 and 2
Caroline Araskog,
Locust Valley, N.Y.
(151) def. Janie
Jackson, Huntsville, Ala.
(153), 19 holes
Alison Lee,
Valencia, Calif.
(151) def. Bryana
Nguyen, Columbia, Md.
(153), 1 up
Amy Lee, Brea, Calif. (149) def. Isabel Southard,
Sharon, Mass.
(153), 4 and 3
Mariah Stackhouse,
Riverdale, Ga.
(146) def. Annie
Park, Levittown, N.Y.
(151), 4 and 3
Talia Campbell,
Dallas, Texas
(153) def. Lilia
Khatu Vu,
Fountain Valley, Calif. (152), 1 up
Lower Bracket
Ashlan Ramsey,
Milledgeville, Ga.
(150) def. Casie
Cathrea, Livermore, Calif.
(144), 2 and 1
Karen Chung,
Livingston, N.J.
(148) def. Paige
Lee, Folsom, Calif. (148), 5 and 3
Yu Liu,
People's Republic of China
(147) def. Kristine
Odaiyar, Ocala, Fla.
(151), 5 and 3
Anne Cheng,
Torrance, Calif.
(152) def. Megan
Khang, Rockland, Mass.
(147), 21 holes
Aurora Kan,
Boothwyn, Pa.
(151) def. Eimi
Koga, Honolulu, Hawaii
(145), 2 and 1
Summar Roachell,
Conway, Ark.
(148) def. Manuela
Carbajo Re,
Argentina
(148), 6 and 5
Dottie Ardina, Philippines
(151) def. Emma
Talley, Princeton, Ky.
(146), 2 up
Yueer Cindy
Feng, Orlando, Fla. (153) def. Hee Wook Choi, Korea (152), 6 and 5
Olympia Fields, Ill. – Results from Thursday’s third round of match play at the 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, being conducted on the 6,403-yard, par-72 South Course at Olympia Fields Country Club (All times CDT):
Upper
Bracket
Ariya Jutanugarn, Thailand
(140) def. Jisoo Keel, Canada (148), 1 up
Gabriella Then,
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
(147) def. Caroline
Araskog, Locust Valley, N.Y.
(151), 5 and 4
Amy Lee, Brea, Calif. (149) def. Alison Lee,
Valencia, Calif.
(151), 1 up
Talia Campbell,
Dallas, Texas
(153) def. Mariah
Stackhouse, Riverdale, Ga.
(146), 4 and 3
Lower Bracket
Karen Chung,
Livingston, N.J.
(148) def. Ashlan
Ramsey, Milledgeville, Ga.
(150), 1 up
Yu Liu,
People's Republic of China
(147) def. Anne
Cheng, Torrance, Calif.
(152), 1 up
Summar Roachell,
Conway, Ark.
(148) def. Aurora
Kan, Boothwyn, Pa.
(151), 5 and 3
Dottie Ardina, Philippines
(151) def. Yueer
Cindy Feng,
Orlando, Fla.
(153), 1 up
Olympia Fields, Ill. – Pairings for Friday’s quarterfinal round of match play at the 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, being conducted on the 6,403-yard, par-72 South Course at Olympia Fields Country Club (All times CDT):
Upper
Bracket
8 a.m.: Ariya Jutanugarn, Thailand (140) v. Gabriella Then,
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. (147)
8:10 a.m.: Amy Lee,
Brea, Calif.
(149) v. Talia
Campbell, Dallas, Texas
(153)
Lower Bracket
8:20 a.m.: Karen Chung,
Livingston, N.J.
(148) v. Yu Liu, People's Republic of China (147)
8:30 a.m.: Summar
Roachell, Conway,
Ark. (148) v. Dottie Ardina, Philippines
(151)