Liu Youngest To Win
U.S. Junior Crown
Chen Battles Fire With
Fire At U.S. Girls’ Junior
ADA, MICHIGAN |
It’s not every
day a player has a chance to
break one of Tiger Woods’
USGA records, especially if
that player is but 14 years old.
Jim Liu, by virtue of his 4 and
2 victory over Justin Thomas
in the final, became the
youngest winner of the U.S.
Junior Amateur, eclipsing
Woods’ record by more than
seven months.
Liu shot even-par 144 in
the stroke play qualifying but
caught fire once match play
began.
“The first two rounds I
either hit the ball good or I
putted well,” Liu said. “I just
didn’t do it in the same round.
After stroke play, I started
to do it in the same round. I
think that’s just a matter of
time and luck.”
Liu, who advanced to the
second round of the U.S.
Amateur Public Links, de-
feated Robby Shelton 3 and
2 in the semifinals. Shelton,
also 14, beat defending cham-
pion Jordan Spieth and 2007
runner-up Anthony Paolucci
on his way to the semifinals.
Gavin Hall, of Pittsford,
N. Y., shot a championship-
record 62 in the second round
of stroke play.
With their appearances
in the final match, Liu and
Thomas both received exemp-
tions into the U.S. Amateur
Championship, Aug. 23-29 at
Chambers Bay in University
Place, Wash.
RESULTS
Staff and Wire Reports
In the searing heat of the North
Carolina Sandhills, Doris Chen
got as hot as the temperature
Saturday afternoon, winning
the U.S. Girls’ Junior with a
3 and 2 victory over Katelyn
Dambaugh in the scheduled
36-hole final.
It was the 17-year-old
Chen’s first USGA victory, one
that came in her final year of
eligibility for the U.S. Girls’
Junior. Chen, of Bradenton,
Fla., who was born in Tai-
wan, made a comeback in the
afternoon round after being
1-down in the morning at the
Dogwood Course at the Coun-
try Club of North Carolina.
Temperatures bordered on
100 degrees Saturday, with a
heat index much higher. And it
affected Dambaugh late in the
day when two bogeys on holes
29 and 30 turned a 1-up lead
by Dambaugh into a 1-up lead
for Chen.
“I didn’t think of that in the
afternoon,” said Chen. “Even
in the afternoon when I got
back 1-up, 2-up, I didn’t feel
like I was winning. I was just
hitting my golf shots. I didn’t
really think about, ‘Oh, maybe
I can win this.’”
It was the second con-
secutive semifinal appear-
ance for Chen, who lost to
Kimberly Kim in the semis at
the 2009 championship. After
coming so close a year ago,
Chen, who ousted stroke-play
medalist Danielle Kang in the
quarterfinals Friday morning,
came into this year’s champi-
onship with lofty expectations.
Dambaugh, from Goose
Creek, S.C, was playing in her
first USGA championship and
did not leave disappointed.
“It’s amazing,” she said of
her experience. “I never even
thought about getting this
far. I’m so pleased with how I
played. I’m just so blessed to
even be here.”
RESULTS
Staff and Wire Reports
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Zoom level
fit page
fit width
A
A
fullscreen
share
print
clip
SlideShow
fullscreen
Open Article
article text for page
< previous story
|
next story >
add comment
|
read comments
Share this page with a friend
Save to “My Stuff”
Subscribe to this magazine
Search
Help
