Top seeds shine in the round of 64 of the US Women’s Amateur
Melanie Green (USGA photo)
Two rounds of stroke play were not enough to decide the match play score for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Wednesday’s action began with a 20-of-10 playoff, the largest in U.S. Women’s Amateur history. The playoff lasted just two holes but was extended for two hours. Only one of the playoff winners – rising sophomore Bailey Shoemaker of the University of Southern California – advanced from the first round of 64 to Thursday’s round of 32.
“It doesn’t feel like it today. It was crazy,” Shoemaker said of the playoff after her 1-up win over No. 3 seed Zoe Antoinette Campos. “It was my first USGA playoff ever. Of course I was disappointed to even be in it, but it was a tough battle. I knew if I just made the par game like we do in school, whoever made the most pars would win.”
Not only did the players have to contend with a field of the world’s best amateurs on a course that has hosted major championships – Southern Hills has hosted eight majors, including three US Opens (1958, 1977, 2001) – but they also had to contend with the elements. The wind was light and the temperature was high. Temperatures reached triple digits for the third day in a row, making for the first of several challenging days of play.
“It was just really hot,” said Shoemaker, who had to get up at 5 a.m. for the playoffs and then wait until 1:20 p.m. for her round of 16 game. “I think everyone knew we were going to be dead by the afternoon. It was so hot out there. It was tough. But it was just kind of survival of the fittest.”
While world rankings and seedings are usually thrown out the window when the championship moves into match play, it was a good day for a top seed. The first round was mostly chalk play, with the higher seeds advancing in 24 of the 32 matches.
One of the higher seeds who failed to advance was defending champion Megan Schofill. Catherine Rao, a quarterfinalist the past two years, overcame a 2-2 deficit after 12 holes to defeat the Auburn graduate 2-2. Rao, a rising junior at Princeton, was helped in her comeback by an eagle on the par-5 13th hole, followed by three consecutive birdies on holes 14 through 16.
Schofill ranks 4th in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com women’s rankings.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit since stroke play. I wasn’t making many putts but I was playing well so it was just a matter of time before the putts started falling,” Rao said. Honestly, I think hole 11 was a bigger turning point for me, right after the train wreck that happened on hole 10. It was nice to just get a shot in close and make a putt.”
“At my first US Am, I was probably one of the lowest ranked players in the field,” she added. “It’s one of those things where I try to focus on myself, focus on my own game, and I know if I play a good round of golf, I’m going to play well.”
One of the championship’s success stories so far is Gabby Woods, who won the 2024 NCAA Division II national singles championship this spring as a senior at the University of Findlay. The Sabina, Ohio, native played a hard-fought match against Shoemaker’s USC teammate Catherine Park in which neither player ever had a lead of more than 1 stroke. Woods held the lead only twice: once when she birdied the par-4 12th hole and again when she made par and won the difficult 18th hole.
“It was a great match, honestly. Usually on a day like this, you have to win with birdies. I’d give some, she’d give some. We both hit a drive in some spots where it was tough to get to par,” Woods said. “But even then, it was a great match. You still have to work for what you have. But (Park is) a very talented player. It was a great opportunity to play with her and see what other people are playing for and with.”
Sabina, Ohio, is a village between Columbus and Cincinnati with a population of less than 3,000. Although she has major tournament experience thanks to her national championship win, Woods has enjoyed staying under the radar this week.
“Obviously, being a national champion gives you a huge confidence boost that you can do it. It especially helps with the little putts out there,” Woods said. “It’s kind of good to be like that – nobody really knows about you. Nobody really expects much except me and my caddie, so it’s kind of nice.”
The biggest wins of the day went to Florida graduate Maisie Filler and rising Texas sophomore Farah O’Keefe, who both won their matches 7 and 6. Former Wake Forest player Rachel Kuehn also won 7 and 5, while only 10 matches reached the 18th hole.
Other notable players who made it to the round of 32 included Adela Cernousek (2024 NCAA DI National Champion), Gianna Clemente (2023 Girl’s Junior PGA winner), Anna Davis (2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Champion), Rianne Malixi (2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior Champion), Kiara Romero (2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior Champion) and Asterisk Talley (2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Champion).
WHAT’S NEXT
Play resumes Thursday with the Round of 32 and Round of 16, starting at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Round of 16 matches are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Peacock will broadcast live coverage from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free and the public is welcome to attend.
NOTEWORTHY
– For the 13th year in a row, the U.S. Women’s Amateur will not feature a back-to-back winner. Defending champion Megan Schofill, who shot rounds of 70-74 in stroke play to tie for 14th place, was beaten 2 and 1 by Catherine Rao.
– Sixteen players reached match play for the second consecutive year: Gianna Clemente, Anna Davis, Laney Frye, Sara Im, Lauren Kim, Rachel Kuehn, Katie Li, Rianne Malixi, Julia Misemer, Catherine Rao, Kiara Romero, Amanda Sambach, Megan Schofill, Bailey Shoemaker, Latanna Stone and Kelly Xu. Ten of them advanced.
– Emilia Migliaccio was eliminated on the second hole of the 20-for-10 playoff on Wednesday morning. She joined the broadcast team in the afternoon as a roving reporter for Golf Channel’s coverage.
– With her 2-1 victory over Amanda Sambach, Asterisk Talley’s 2024 USGA match play record increases to 11-1. She won the US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship with partner Sarah Lim in April before finishing runner-up in the US Girls’ Junior in July.
– The University of Texas is well represented in the Round of 32. Angela Heo, Huai-Chien Hsu, Lauren Kim and Farah O’Keefe have all advanced through Thursday. Arkansas and USC are both sending two players to the Round of 32.
– For the first time since 1994, no match in the round of 64 went into overtime. Ten matches reached the 18th hole.
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