Daly City, CA (Sports Network) - Defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn was the
stroke-play medalist for the second year in a row at the U.S. Girls' Junior
Championship after shooting a 1-under 71 in the second round Tuesday.
Jutanugarn, a 16-year-old from Thailand, finished 36 holes at Lake Merced Golf
Club with a 2-under 142 to beat top-ranked female amateur Lydia Ko of New
Zealand by three shots.
The third-ranked female amateur, Jutanugarn headed to match play looking to
become just the third player in history to successfully defend her title at
this championship.
She made eight birdies and six bogeys through two rounds of stroke play and
used her experience from last year, when she also medaled on the way to her
title, to comment on what it means.
"Being (the) medalist is good," she said, per the USGA, "but in match play,
it's nothing. I just do my best, and everybody's the same. Everybody's tired
at the first hole."
Ko had a 1-under 71 to finish at 1-over 145 while Annie Park (71) and Jordan
Ferreira (72) shared third place at 2-over 146. Casey Danielson (71) and
Marijosse Navarro (72) were the only other players to finish within five
strokes of Jutanugarn.
Sixty-four players will compete in match play, which runs from Wednesday to
Saturday. There was a 12-way playoff for the last four spots in match play.
The only players to successfully defend their titles at the championship were
Judy Eller (1957-58) and Hollis Stacy (1969-71).
The Sports Network