Kristen Gillman wins U.S. Women's Amateur
GLEN COVE, N.Y. (August 10, 2014) — Kristen Gillman was four down to Su-Hyun Oh in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur. She won four of the last six holes, including the 18th, to push the match to extras, where she would clinch with a birdie on the second playoff hole.
Now on Sunday, facing fellow 16-year-old Brooke Mackenzie Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, Gillman trailed again. This time, it was by three holes with 10 to play.
So it was fitting that Gillman, an Austin, Texas native, would again fight her way back to victory. She made five birdies in those last 10 holes, including a tap-in three on the par-four 18th to capture the 2014 U.S. Women's Amateur.
Gillman, who will attended the University of Alabama in the fall of 2016, was spectacular with her iron play, especially in her ten-hole comeback. She stuffed approach shots to two feet on holes 10, 15, and 18.
Just last week, Gillman won the Junior PGA Championship by 11 shots in her home state.
Sunday's 36-hole final was all-square through 16 holes before Henderson made consecutive birdies to close out the first 18. She won holes 25 and 26 to move the match to three-up before Gillman rattled off her victorious comeback.
With Emma Talley's U.S. Women's Amateur victory in 2013, the University of Alabama now has back-to-back winning representatives at the event.
ABOUT THE U.S. Women's Amateur
The U.S. Women's Amateur, the third
oldest of
the USGA championships, was first played
in 1895
at Meadowbrook Club in Hempstead, N.Y.
The
event is open to any female amateur who
has a
USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 5.4.
The
Women's Amateur is one of 14 national
championships conducted annually by the
USGA,
10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
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