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U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S AMATEUR

Round of 32: Five Matches to Watch

By David Shefter, USGA

| Sep 20, 2016 | Wellesley, Mass.

Six-time USGA champion Ellen Port matches up with 2005 U.S. Women's Mid-Am champ Mary Ann Hayward in the Round of 32. (USGA/Matt Sullivan)

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The Round of 64 on Monday at Wellesley Country Club didn’t produce many upsets, as the top eight seeds in the 55th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship advanced fairly easily. In fact, only seven of the 32 matches lasted to the 18th hole, with three going extra holes.

The matches figure to get tighter during Tuesday’s Round of 32. Here are five matches to watch as the championship moves another step closer to crowning a winner (all times EDT):

Judith Kyrinis, Canada, vs. Robin Burke, Houston, Texas (7:45 a.m.)

Over 36 holes of stroke play and her 13-hole match on Monday, Kyrinis, 52, has played 1-over-par golf, with the usual match-play concessions. Now the stroke-play medalist faces the 2016 USA Curtis Cup captain, who was the runner-up in the 1997 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Kyrinis is well aware that the medalist has not won the Senior Women’s Amateur since 2002, but the reigning Canadian Senior Women’s and Women’s Mid-Amateur champion has looked sharp over the first three days of the competition.

Burke, 54, outlasted longtime Texas rival and 2010 Senior Women’s Amateur champion Mina Hardin on Monday. She said her Curtis Cup players have been texting and offering encouragement this week.

Corey Weworski, Carlsbad, Calif., vs. Andrea Kraus, Baltimore, Md. (8:05 a.m.)

Both players are coming off big wins on Monday. The 54-year-old Weworski, the 2004 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, needed only 13 holes to beat Nancy Smith, at 69, the oldest player to qualify for match play. Weworski’s playing credentials include the 1998 California State Women’s Amateur title as well as appearances in more than 20 USGA championships.

Kraus, 55, played just 14 holes in beating Therese Quinn. Her USGA credentials are also extensive, helping Maryland to a runner-up finish in the 2001 USGA Women’s State Team and reaching the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur on three occasions.

Lynne Cowan, Rocklin, Calif., vs. Sherry Herman, Middletown, N.J. (8:45 a.m.)

Cowan, 53, has been contending in USGA championship for many years. She advanced to the semifinals of the 2008 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur; in the 2012 Women’s Mid-Am, Cowan led on eventual champion Meghan Stasi in the Round of 32 before succumbing in extra holes. Last year, the four-time California Women’s State Amateur champion reached the Round of 16 in the Senior Women’s Amateur.

Herman, 58, won the 2009 Senior Amateur and was a semifinalist in the 1994 and 2001 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. Herman, who edged Sue Cohn in the Round of 64, played four years at the University of Georgia from 1976-80.

Akami Nakata Khaiat, Japan vs. Caryn Wilson, Rancho Mirage, Calif. (8:55 a.m.)

Khaiat, 53, is a seven-time club champion at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., site of next year’s U.S. Amateur. She also is one six international golfers still remaining. Three years ago at CordeValle, Khaiat advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.

Many people might recognize Wilson, 55, from another sport. She is one of two females to play in the U.S. Open in tennis and golf, joining Althea Gibson.  She played professional golf from 1999 to 2009 before regaining her amateur status three years ago. In 1981, she was the national collegiate doubles champion while at Stanford University. The Cardinal also won the 1982 national championship.

Ellen Port, St. Louis, Mo., vs. Mary Ann Hayward, Canada (9:45 a.m.)

These two women own a combined seven USGA championships: six by Port and one by Hayward. Port, 54, has four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles, which ties her with Meghan Stasi for the most in championship history. Upon turning 50, Port won the first two Senior Women’s Amateurs she entered (2012 and 2013). A two-time USA Curtis Cup competitor, Port, now the head women’s coach at Washington University in St. Louis, also captained the 2014 USA Curtis Cup Team to victory at St. Louis Country Club.

Hayward, 56, is the only foreign-born golfer to win the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, doing so 11 years ago at Shadow Hawk Golf Club in suburban Houston. The 56-year-old owns four Canadian Women’s Amateur and three Canadian Senior Women’s titles. She represented Canada eight times in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship and captained the team in 2008. Last year, she was the stroke-play medalist in the Senior Women’s Amateur at Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tenn., but lost in the Round of 64.

David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.

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