Ko, Jutanugarn in US Women's Amateur’s Semifinal
The quarterfinal stage of the US Women's Amateur is over and the results have hardly surprised anyone. Both Lydia Ko and Ariya Jutanugarn won their matches and will now play the semifinal against each other.
Both the players faced experienced players in the quarterfinals and the matches turned exciting towards the end. Lydia Ko won by a score of 3 and1 while Ariya Jutanugarn won by 5 and 4.
Ariya Jutanugarn faced Erynne Lee in the quarter final and the match was really exciting. The first two holes were a draw with both the players making par.
The third hole went to Jutanugarn. This was her win of the day. The next four holes, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th were drawn.
So far, Lee had played very well and had a fair chance of recovering from the earlier setback. Jutanugarn had the advantage of the win but it was very slight and could easily be lost on the later holes. However, the next holes provided some excitement to
the fans.
Holes 8th, 9th and 10th went to Jutanugarn and she was all set for the win. Lee did manage to draw the next hole but Jutanugarn took charge of the match and scored wins on holes 12, 13 and 14.
Lydia Ko was not that fortunate. Paula Reto played a brilliant game and the match between these two appeared to be a battle of will. Reto staged an early upset on the second hole.
She won the hole by a single stroke and put Ko at a disadvantage. The next two draws on holes 3 and 4 further increased the pressure on Ko.
Ko never lost her nerves throughout this pressure play from Reto. She moved in and won the fifth hole. The next two holes were drawn but both the players were at the same level at this point.
From then onwards, Ko was firmly in the saddle and Reto did not have any chance. Despite this, Reto did managed to draw several holes and denied Ko a victory by a large margin.
The two winners of the quarterfinal will face each other in the semifinal.
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