Defending Champ Wilson Is U.S. Girls Junior Medalist; McCauley Makes Match Play -- Barely

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The defending champion isn't exempt in the U.S. Girls Junior Championship. Yana Wilson had to go through the stroke-play qualifying portion, just like everyone else. It wasn't a problem. Having opened with a 70 at the course with the longest name in golf -- the Blue Course at the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Course -- Wilson came back with a 4-under 68 on Tuesday, and didn't just qualify to be among the 64 players advancing to match play once again. The 16-year-old from Henderson, Nev., claimed medalist honors with the resulting 36-hole aggregate of 138.

That was one better than the total produced by 17-year-old Anna Davis, the 2022 Augusta National Women's Amateur champion. She was a co-leader after a first-day 68, but on Tuesday the Auburn University recruit missed a 6-footer for par on her last hole, the par-5 ninth, and shot 71 for a 139.

The other Day 1 co-leader, Kiara Romero, 17, an Oregon recruit who posted a 72, finished alone in third at 140, just ahead of the three players tied for fourth at 141 -- 14-year-olds Kaili Xiao and Anna Huang, and 16-year-old Tarapath Panya.

Wilson will now try to become the fourth player to repeat as champion. The most notable of the previous three was Hollis Stacy, who won three years in a row, 1969, '70 and '71, and went on to win the U.S. Women;s Open three times, the first of them at Hazeltine National in 1977. Wilson will also be trying to become the sixth medalist to win the match-play part of the tournament.

Wilson and Davis both have impressive credentials. Among other things, they both played in the U.S. Women's Open earlier this month at Pebble Beach.

On Tuesday, Wilson birdied the first hole, but followed that with five straight pars and then made her only two bogeys of the day on consecutive holes, the 132-yard, par-3 seventh and the 408-yard, par-4 eighth. But she responded with a birdie at the par-5 ninth (552 yards) and ran off four consecutive birdies on the back nine, beginning at the par-4 12th. Davis started on the back nine and was 1 over for the day when she made the turn. She birdied three in a row -- the fifth, sixth and seventh -- to get to 2 under for the round and 6 under overall, before the valedictory three-putt bogey at the ninth.

It was a good day for the McCauley sisters. Reese, a two-time Minnesota state high school champion who will be a senior this fall (she's home-schooled but plays for the Simley team), made it into match play at the Girls Junior, and Bella McCauley, who will be a sophomore at Minnesota, was the medalist in the U.S. Women's Amateur Qualifying back in the Twin Ciites at Burl Oaks. They both, however, had to endure some bumps along the way. Bella was 3 over par after seven holes at Burl Oaks, before playing the last 11 holes in 3 under and posting the lowest score of the day, a 72, by three shots.

Reese, who was in the morning wave of players at the Girls Junior for the second round, was on the outside of qualifying looking in after she bogeyed the par-4 second hole, her 11th of the day (she started on the back nine). She was 6 over for 28 holes, and according to the USGA website, there were more than 80 players at plus 6 or better at that point. McCauley, who will join her sister at Minnesota in the fall of 2024, rallied with birdies at the 412-yard, par-4 sixth and the par-3 seventh, and the USGA website now said that she was one of 63 players at plus 4 or better. She stayed inside the Magic Number with a par at the eighth -- but then made what looked at the time like a disastrous triple-bogey 8 on her last hole, the ninth. That gave her a 76 and a stroke-play total of 151, 7 over. Things looked fairly bleak as she signed her card.

But it was still early, and the Eisenhower Blue Course is a bear. Every hole played over par during qualifying, even the par 5s. The ninth, which averaged 5.35 strokes per player, was tied with the eighth (4.35) for the toughest hole on the front nine. The back nine was even harder than the front, and players kept falling by the wayside as the afternoon went on. When the last groups got off the course, the Magic Number for qualifying turned out to be exactly 151. Sixty-four players were at that number, thanks to a 10-way tie for 55th that included McCauley. So there was no playoff required.

No other Minnesota player besides McCauley advanced. Kathryn VanArragon, the two-time state high school champ who just graduated from Blaine -- and will start at St. Thomas in the fall -- opened with a 77 on Monday. Despite a double at he 392-yard, par-4 14th, she played the par 4s and par 3s in plus 1 -- but she was plus 4 on the par 5s, the kind of statistic that a tournament player hates. (You're supposed to gain ground on the par 5s, not lose it.) She started on the back nine Tuesday and birdied the first two holes, the par-4 10th and the 555-yard, par-5 11th, which seemed like a good omen. After a par at the 12th, though, she bogeyed the last three par 4s on the back side, the 366-yard 14th, the 409-yard 15th and the 404-yard 18th.

She was plus 6 as she started the front nine -- and still inside what turned out to be the number. But she bogeyed the 398-yard, par-4 second and suffered a critical blow when she followed that with a double at the 158-yard, par-3 third. Two more bogeys at the sixth and seventh holes meant that her closing birdie at the daunting ninth was good only for another 77, and a 154, and that wasn't enough to get her into match play.

Wilson, as the No. 1 seed, will be in the first twosome off the first tee on Wednesday morning, at 8 o'clock,and she will play the No. 64 seed, Ashley Kim, one of those 10 155s. Davis, No. 2, will play No. 63 seed Thanana Kotchasanmanee, beginning at 10:24. Fortunately for Davis, the rules of golf governing match play do not require her to be able to pronounce her opponent's name.

McCauley, who got the No. 59 seed, won't start her match until 12:12. She will be taking on No. 6 Huang, the precocious 14-year-old from Canada.


U.S. Girls Junior Championship

At U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Course -- Blue Course

Par 72, 6,735 yards

Colorado Springs, Colo.

Stroke Play

Final results

1. Yana Wilson, Henderson, Nev. 70-68--138 (-6)

2. Anna Davis, Spring Valley, Calif. 68-71--139

3. Kiara Romero, San Jose, Calif. 68-72--140

T4. Tarapath Panya, Thailand 69-73--142

T4. Anna Huang, Canada 74-68--142

T4. Kaili Xiao, China 69-73--142

7, Emerie Schartz, Wichita, Kansas 72-71--143

T8. Sara Im, Duluth, Ga. 71-73--144

T8. Asterisk Talley, Chowchilla, Calif. 72-72--144

T8. Clarisa Temelo, Mexico 70-74--144

T8. Kaitlyn Schroeder, Jacksonville, Fla. 72-72--144

T8. Sidney Yermish, Pinehurst, N.C. 72-72--144

T55. Reese McCauley, Inver Grove Hts. 75-76 --151


Missed cut -- 151 (64 players at 151 or better)

Kathryn VanArragon, Blaine 77-77--154

Oliviia Salonek, Roseville 81-80--161

Lily Vincelli, Rosemount 86-82--168