Chacon Sets Record with 66-65--131 in U.S. Women's Am; Closing Double Does McCauley in

LOS ANGELES -- Briana Chicon wasn't thinking about doing it, but she set the record for lowest score in the stroke-play qualifying portion of the U.S. Amateur on Tuesday. The 21-year-old from Whittier, Calif., shot a 4-under-par 66 on Monday at Ble-Air Country Club. Starting her second round on the 10th tee, she birdied three holes in a four-hole stretch on the back nine, and she got to 5 under for the round by making an eagle at the 493-yard, par-5 first hole. She gave one back when she. bogeyed the par-4 second, but made her fourth birdie of the day at the 115-yard, par-3 fifth. It was the third birdie of the round on a par 3 for Chacon, and it gave the soon-to-be fifth-year senior at the University of Oregon a 65 and a 36-hole total of 131.

The old stroke-play record for the Women's Am was 133, and Andrea Lignell matched it. A Biomedical Engineering major at Mississippi, she, like Chacon, will be taking advantage of the NCAA's granting of a fifth year of eligibility to any athlete who lost a year of competition in 2020 because of Covid 19. On Tuesday, the 22-year-old Swede birdied seven of the first 15 holes and was in position to tie Chacon for medalist honors. But she hit her drive into a bunker at the 383-yard, par-4 18th hole and. wound up three-putting for a double bogey, and a 65.

Gianna Clemente, a 15-year-old from Florida who won't even graduate from high school until 2026, also shot 65, and she finished third in stroke play, one behind Lignell at 134. It has already been a remarkably successful year for Clemente, who won the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball with Avery Zweig in May, made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Girls Championship in July and won the U.S. Junior PGA Championship last Friday. On Monday, she bogeyed the second hole of her first round, but played 2 under from there for a 69. On Tuesday, she bogeyed her second hole again, except that this time it was No. 11 (she started on the back nine). She quickly redeemed herself with a birdie at the 12th, made two more birdies -- at the 17th and 18th -- before making the turn, and then eagled the first. She capped off her 65 with a birdie at the eighth.

Katie Cranston, a Canadiian, wasn't guaranteed to make match play with three holes to go in her second round. She was 3 over par, and 4 over par (144) would eventually wind up in a 10-for-9 playoff. But Cranston moved quickly up the standings.
First, she holed a 90-yard shot with her 58-degree wedge for an eagle 2 at the 348-yard, par-4 eighth hole. Then she eagled the 501-yard, par-5 eighth, and she followed that with a birdie at the 329-yard, par-4 ninth -- 5 under for her last three holes.
That gave her a 68 and vaulted her up to fourth place in the qualifying with a 135.

That 10-for-9 playoff for the 144s will take place Wednesday morning, just before the start of match play.

Bella McCauley, the two-time Minnesota state high school champion from Inver Grove Heights, could have been in the playoff -- if she had parred the 18th hole Tuesday. But she, like Lignell, got in trouble and ended up making a double, which put her at 74 for the day, and at 146 for 36 holes.

McCauley was the No. 1 player for Minnesota as a freshman during the 2022-23 college season, and two of her teammates finished close behind her at Bel-Air CC. Grace Curran, who is from New Lennox, Ill., followed a 73 with a 74 to finish at 147. Emma Carpenter, who is from Dekalb, Ill., (roughly 65 miles from New Lennox) came back from a first-round 76 with a 73 for a 149. Both Curran and Carpenter were seniors in '22-23, but they will take advantage of the chance for a fifth year of college eligibility and play one more season for the Gophers.

Finishing the qualifying right between Curran and Carpenter was former North Dakota State star Emma Groom. Now working as a digital creator, Groom, 26, was one of only three players in the field from the mid-am age range, but she acquitted herself well, shooting 73-75--148.


U.S. Women's Amateur Championship

At Bel-Air Country Club

Par 70, 6,155 yards

Los Angeles

Stroke Play results (the top 64 finishers in stroke play will begin the match-play part of the tournament Wednesday morning)

1. Briana Chacon, Whittier, Calif. 66-65--131

2. Andrea Lignell, Sweden 68-65--133

3. Gianna Clemente, Estero, Fla. 69-65--134

4. Katie Cranston, Canada 67-68--135

T5. Caroline Canales, Calabasas, Calif. 66-70--136

T5. Hailey Borja, Lake Forest, Calif. 68-68--136

T5. Megan Schofill, Monticello, Fla. 70-66--136

T8. Rachel Heck, Memphis, Tenn. 70-67--137

T8. Nikki Oh, Torrance, Calif. 69-68--137

T8. Malia Nam, Kailua, Hawaii 68-69--137

Cut -- 144 (There was a 10-way tie at 144; so there will be a 10-for-9 playoff Wednesday morning.)

Bella McCauley, Inver Grove Heights 72-74--146

Grace Curran, New Lennox, Ill. 73-74--147

Emma Groom, Eden Prairie 73-75--148

Emma Carpenter, Dekalb, Ill. 76-73--149

Megan Furtney, St. Charles, Ill. 77-78--155

Natalie Young, Rapid City, S.D. 88-87--175