McCauley Is the Exception as Most of the Top Seeds Advance in U.S. Girls Junior

Colorado Springs, Colo. -- The top two seeds were as good as advertised on Wednesday in the Round of 64 at the U.S. Girls Junior Championship. No. 1 seed Yana Wilson, the defending champion and this year's medalist, and No. 2 Anna Davis made one bogey between them on the very difficult Blue Course at the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Complex, and neither of them had to go any further than the 16th green to conclude her victory.

Wilson, a 16-year-old from Henderson, Nev., grabbed the lead by winning the par-4 fourth hole with.a par and won the 552-yard, par-5 fifth and 401-yard, par-4 eighth with birdies on her way to a 5&4 victory over the No. 64 seed, Ashley Kim. Her only bogey came at the par-4 14th (395 yards). Kim bogeyed it, too, and that was the end of the match.

Davis won the par-3 third hole with a par, but lost the fifth to a birdie by the No. 63 seed, Thanana Kotchasanmanee. A birdie at the 143-yard, par-3 seventh put Davis ahead to stay. Her conceded birdie beat Kotchasanmanee' double bogey at the par-4 12th, and Davis went 3 up when she birdied the par-3 13th. She secured her 4&2 victory with a birdie at the 562-yard, par-5 16th. Having finished second to Wilson by one stroke (138 to 139) in the medal-play portion of the tournament, Davis was 4 under for the 16 holes that she played on Wednesday in her first match.

The top eight seeds all advanced, and as a matter of fact, 12 of the top 13 seeds made it through to the Round of 32. The one lower seed who spoiled the Top Seed Party was Reese McCauley, the 17-year-old soon-to-be high school senior from Inver Grove Heights. (She shares her. birthday, Jan. 21, with Jack Nicklaus.)

Golf is never boring when Reese is playing. The two-tme Minnesota state high school champion got into match play at the Girls Junior despite making a triple bogey on her final hole of stroke play (No. 9, 552 yards, par 5). Her 75-76--151 ended up making the cut to match play on the number, and she got the No. 59 seed.

On Wednesday, she took on the No. 6 seed, Anna Huang, a 14-year-old from China, and there were only two holes that ended with the match tied. McCauley got off to a quick start, with birdies at each of the first two holes. She lost the fourth fo Huang's par, but went 2 up again when she won the eighth hole (401 yards, par 4) with a par. Two bogeys on par 5s (No. 9 and No. 11), plus a bogey at the par-4 12th, turned McCauley's 2-up lead into a 1-down deficit. It got worse before it got better, when Huang birdied the 14th and McCauley bogeyed it.

Last year, McCauley came from 2 down with two holes to go in a 20-hole Round of 32 victory over Kaitlyn Schroeder. Against Huang, she started her comeback from 2 down with a birdie at the 408-yard, par-4 15th, and she won the long, 208-yard, par-3 17th and 406-yard, par-4 18th with pars to claim a 1-up victory.

Twenty-two of the 32 higher seeds won on Wednesday, including No, 27 Pimpisa Rubrong of Thailand. She led from the third hole on and beat No. 38 Amelie Zalsman of St. Petersburg, Fla., 2&1. So on Thursday morning, in the Round of 32, it will be McCauley vs. Rubrong, beginning at 9:06 (Mountain Daylight Time).

Schroeder, who was a semifinalist in 2021, is the No. 9 seed this year, and she won by the biggest margin on Wednesday, 6&5 over No. 56 Taylor Baker.


U.S. Girls Junior Championship

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

Par 72, 6,735 yards

Colorado Springs, Colo.

Match Play

Round of 64

No. 1 Yana Wilson def. No. 64 Ashley Kim 5&4

No. 2 Anna Davis def. No. 63 Thanana Kotchasanmanee 4&2

No. 3 Kiara Romero def. No. 62 Claire Wan 2&1

No. 4 Kaili Xiao def. No. 61 Swetha Sathish 1 up

No. 5 Tarapath Panya def. No. 60 Ruilhan Kendria Wang 1 up

No. 59 Reese McCauley def. No. 6 Anna Huang 1 up

No. 7 Emerie Schartz def. No. 58 Veronika Exposito 5&4

No. 8 Sara Im def. No. 57 Leia Chung 1 up

No. 9 Kaitlyn Schroeder def. No. 56 Taylor Baker 6&5

No. 10 Clarisa Temelo def. No. 55 Yujie Liu 2&1


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