(Dupont, WA)
With Mount Rainier overlooking The Home Course, the winds were swirling all day while the sun was beating down on the 64 sides who were battling it out for 32 spots in the match play portion of the Championship.
Leaders
T-1 Angela Zhang/Alice Ziyi Zhao -11
T-1 Shannon Aubert/Calli Ringsby -11
T-1 Savannah Barber/Alexa Saldana -11
T-1 Frances Kim/Nikki Oh -11
T-1 Thienna Huynh/Sara Im -11
T-1 Anna Davis/Kiara Romero -11
T-1 Kaitlyn Schroeder/Bailey Shoemaker -11
For full results, a link to the USGA is here.
Angela Zhang/Alice Ziyi Zhao
The 14-year-old duo fired a 6-under, 66 yesterday, leaving themselves just one stroke behind the leaders and in a comfortable position to advance to match play. The teens got off to another good start today, birdieing the 3rd and 5th holes to vault them into the lead at 8-under. On the par 5, 8th hole, the duo made their lone eagle of the day before parring the ninth to give them a 4-under 32 on the front 9. They birdied the 10th and 11th holes before bogeying the par 3, 12th. The pair finished with six pars to give them a 5-under, 67 on the day, and finished 11-under
Grace Lee/Taylor Mularski
The Gonzaga teammates were able to put together a solid front today with a 2-under, 34. The pair birdied the 3rd hole which is the shortest par 4 on the scorecard today while birdieing the tricky 7th. Unfortunately for the side, they could only get one birdie on the back 9 and shot an even 36. Their total score of 1-under fell two shots short of a playoff to make the match play rounds. Congratulations to Grace and Taylor for qualifying for the Championship and finishing under par for the two rounds!
Thienna Hyunh/Sara Im
The defending champs started the day two shots back but by the time they teed off, they found themselves six shots back. The pair started with a pair of pars before Hyunh birdied the 3rd. After parring the 4th, the duo birdied holes 5-9 to bring them up to 11-under and tied for the lead. After dropping a shot on 13, Huynh was able to secure a birdie for the side on the par 5, 16th hole to bring them back to 11-under.
Savannah Barber/Alexa Saldana
This side had the lowest round of the two days of stroke play with their 64. The pair combined for 10 birdies but with bogeys on 14 and 18, the duo would drop to 8-under on the day and 11-under for the Championship. They also will share co-medalist honors.
Playoff
There were eight sides tied at 3-under and with only five spots available, a playoff was necessary to decide who the final five would be advancing to the Round of 32. The playoff started on the par 3 14th hole. Seven sides recorded pars while Thanana Kotchasanmanee and Ella Manley bogeyed and were eliminated from the playoff. Kayla Bryant and Layla Pedrique were eliminated on the second playoff hole, which was the par 4 17th hole. The playoff was suspended after that and will continue tomorrow morning at 7 with the Round of 32 matches starting at approximately 8. There will be one more side eliminated tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow I will not be at the course for coverage but I will be back on Tuesday for the Round of 16 matches in the morning and the Quarterfinal matches in the afternoon. Wednesday is the final day of the tournament with the two Semifinal matches taking place in the morning and the Championship match in the afternoon.