Far Hills, N.J. (June 11, 2007) – Twelve-year-old Alexis Thompson of
Coral
Springs, Fla., became the youngest to ever qualify for the U.S. Women’s
Open when she did so Monday to earn a spot in the 156-player field via sectional
qualifying for the 2007 championship, which will be played June 28-July 1
at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in
Southern
Pines, N.C.
Sixty-eight players were fully exempt into the championship, leaving 87 spaces
open in the field for qualifiers. One spot is still being held open for
the winner of next week’s LPGA Tour event, should that winner not already
be fully exempt into the Women’s Open. The sectional qualifier at the
Turtle Bay Club in
Kahuku, Hawaii, where
three players were competing for one spot, had yet to finish Monday.
Thompson, after recording scores of 72-71 at
Heathrow Country
Club in
Heathrow,
Fla.,
qualified at the age of 12 years, 4 months and 1 day, besting the previous
record of Morgan Pressel, who was 12 years, 11 months and 21 days old when
she qualified for the 2001 Women’s Open, which was also conducted at
Pine Needles.
Brandie Burton, Liselotte Neumann and reigning U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur
Meghan Bolger of Oxford, Miss., lead the list of 10 USGA champions who earned
a spot in the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open.
Burton, who won the 1989 Girls’ Junior at Pine Needles, and Neumann,
the 1988 U.S. Women’s Open winner, will be joined in the field by Dorothy
Delasin (1996 Girls’ Junior; 1999 Women’s Amateur); Marcy (Newton)
Hart (1995 Girls’ Junior; 2000 Women’s Amateur); In Kyung Kim of
Korea (2005 Girls’ Junior); Kelli Kuehne (1994 Girls’ Junior; 1995,
1996 Women’s Amateurs); In-Bee Park (2002 Girls’ Junior); Aree
Song (1999 Girls’ Junior); and Annie (Thurman) Young (2002 Women’s
Amateur Public Links).
Burton, Kuehne and Neumann are three of the eight players who qualified who
also played in the 1996 and 2001 U.S. Women’s Opens, which were both
conducted at Pine Needles. The others who will make their third trip to Pine
Needles are: Tina Barrett; Carin Koch; Leta Lindley; Michele Redman; and Dina
Ammaccapane, who earned medalist honors at the
Rockville,
Md., qualifier.
Teenagers claimed medalist honors at three of the six qualifying sites Monday
to join In Kyung Kim (18) and Park (18) in the field.
Colombia’s
Maria Jose Uribe, 17, earned medalist honors at Keith Hills Country Club in
Buies Creek, N.C., to advance to the Women’s Open for the second consecutive
year. Also heading to her second consecutive Women’s Open is Vicky Hurst,
15, of
Melbourne,
Fla.,
the 2006 U.S. Girls’ Junior runner-up, who earned medalist honors at
Heathrow (Fla.)
Country Club. Mina Harigae, 17, of
Monterey, Calif.,
was the low scorer at Lake Merced Country Club in
Daly
City, Calif.
Those five lead the list of 17 teenagers who have qualified for the Women’s
Open thus far. They will be joined by Esther Choe, 17, of
Scottsdale,
Ariz.; Courtney Ellenbogen, 16, of
Blacksburg,
Va.; Shanshan Feng, 17, of
Hilton Head Island,
S.C.; Ha-Na Jang, 15, of Korea; Danielle Kang, 14, of Oak Park,
Calif.;
Song Hee Kim, 18, of Korea; Joanne Lee, 18, of
San
Carlos, Calif.; Teresa Hsiao-Ching Lu, 19, of Chinese Taipei; Tiffany
Lua, 16, of
Rowland Heights, Calif.; Sydnee
Michaels, 18, of
Temecula, Calif.; Ji Young
Oh, 18, of Korea; and Jennifer Song, 17, of Korea.
Stacy Lewis, 22, of
The Woodlands,
Texas,
and Taylor Leon, 20, of
Dallas, Texas shared
medalist honors at the
Houston qualifier
at Westwood Golf Club. It will be the fourth consecutive Women’s Open
for Leon, who was a member of the 2006
USA Curtis
Cup team, and the first for Lewis, who recently won the
NCAA Division
I individual title and finished tied for fifth at the 2007 LPGA Kraft Nabisco
Championship.
The U.S. Women’s Open is one of 13 national championships conducted
annually by the USGA. Other championships include the
U.S.
Open, the
U.S. Senior Open, and 10
national amateur championships.
A list of the players who qualified for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open,
including qualifying sites and scores, follows:
Key
(a) – amateur
A – alternate
(qualifying score in parentheses)
6/11/07 – Daly
City, Calif. (Lake Merced Country
Club)
(a) Mina Harigae,
Monterey, Calif. (147)
(a) Jennie Lee,
Henderson, Nev. (149)
(a) Tiffany Lua,
Rowland Heights, Calif.
(149)
(a) Danielle Kang, Oak Park,
Ill. (150)
Dana Dormann,
Pleasanton, Calif. (151)
(a) Ha-Na Jang, Korea (151)
(a) Joanne Lee,
San Carlos, Calif. (151)
(a) Sydnee Michaels,
Temecula, Calif. (151)
(a) Jennifer Song, Korea (151)
(a) Selanee Henderson, Apple Valley,
Calif.
Erika Wicoff,
Roseville, Calif. (152)
A – (a) Amie Cochran,
Torrance, Calif.
(153)
A – (a) Tiffany Joh,
San Diego, Calif.
(154)
6/11/07 – Heathrow, Fla. (Country
Club of Heathrow)
(a) – Vicky Hurst,
Melbourne,
Fla.
(137)
Maria Hjorth,
Sweden (139)
In Kyung Kim, Korea (140)
Karen-Margrethe Juul,
Denmark (140)
(a) Shanshan Feng,
Hilton Head Island,
S.C. (140)
(a) Alexis Thompson,
Coral Springs, Fla.
(143)
Johanna Head, England (145)
Nicole Hage,
Coral Springs, Fla. (145)
A – (a) Lindy Duncan,
Daytona Beach,
Fla. (145)
A – Charlotta Sorenstam,
Sweden (146)
A – (a) Jacqui Concolino,
Orlando,
Fla. (147)
A – (a) Mi Jung Hur, Korea (147)
6/11/07 – Glen
Ellyn, Ill. (The
Village Links of Glen Ellyn)
Onnarin Sattayabanphot
West Lafayette, Ind.
(140)
Audra Burks,
Altamonte Springs, Fla. (140)
Maria
Kostina, Russia (144)
Ashley Prange,
Noblesville, Ind. (145)
Kelly Cavanaugh
Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
(145)
Annie Young, Highland,
Utah (145)
Kelly Cap,
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (145)
Sophia Sheridan,
Mexico (146)
Allison Fouch,
East Grand Rapids, Mich.
(146)
Melissa Martin
Altadena, Calif. (146)
Yoora Kim, Korea (146)
Su A Kim, Korea (146)
Brandi Jackson, Greenville, S.C. (147)
Tiffany Tavee
Tempe, Ariz. (147)
Ashley Grier
Hagerstown, Md. (147)
Nicole Melton
San Antonio, Texas (147)
Jimin Jeong, Korea (147)
Carolina Llano,
Colombia (148)
(a) Taryn Durham,
Glasgow, Ky. (148)
(a) Leah Marie Wigger
Louisville, Ky. (148)
Jana Peterkova
Lakeland, Fla. (148)
A – (a) Taylore Karle
Scottsdale, Ariz.
(148)
A – Emily Bastel
Upper Sandusky, Ohio (148)
A – Kim Welch
Roseville, Calif. (148)
A – Kristen Samp Lawrence, Kan. (149)
6/11/07 – Rockville, Md. (Woodmont
Country Club/Old South Country Club)
Dina Ammaccapane,
Phoenix, Ariz. (134)
Anna Jane Eathorne,
Canada (137)
Kris Tamulis,
Naples, Fla. (139)
Wendy Doolan,
Australia (139)
Aree Song, Korea (140)
In-Bee Park,
Las Vegas, Nev. (140)
Katherine Hull,
Australia (140)
Song Hee Kim, Korea (140)
a-Paola
Moreno, Colombia (141)
Alena Sharp,
Canada (141)
Dorothy Delasin,
San Francisco, Calif.
(141)
Giulia Sergas,
Italy (141)
Moira Dunn, Utica, N.Y. (141)
Tina Barrett, Manhasset, N.Y. (141)
a-Esther Choe,
Scottsdale, Ariz. (142)
Brandie Burton, San Bernandino,
Calif.
(142)
Erica Blasberg,
Las Vegas, Nev. (142)
Jimin Kang,
Scottsdale, Ariz. (142)
Katie Futcher,
The Woodlands, Texas (142)
Sarah Sargent,
St Charles, Ill. (142)
Carin Koch,
Sweden (143)
Ji Young Oh, Korea (143)
Karin Sjodin,
Sweden (143)
Sun Young Yoo, Korea (143)
Teresa Hsiao-Ching Lu, Chinese Taipei (143)
Young-A Yang, Korea (143)
Angela Jerman,
Columbus, Ga. (144)
Charlotte Mayorkas,
Las Vegas, Nev. (144)
Chin-Huei Hung, Chinese Taipei (144)
Irene Cho,
Fullerton, Calif. (144)
Kelli Kuehne, Dallas, Texas (144)
Leta Lindley, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (144)
Liselotte Neumann, Sweden (144)
Michele Redman, Plymouth, Minn. (144)
Janice Moodie, Scotland (145)
Marcy Hart, Winston-Salem, N.C. (145)
(Note: Qualifier will resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday to determine
the final spot and list of alternates)
6/11/07 – Buies
Creek, N.C. (Keith Hills Country
Club)
(a) Maria Jose Uribe, Colombia (141)
(a) Marci Turner, Tompkinsville, Ky. (144)
Eva Dahllof, Sweden (144)
(a) Meghan Bolger, Oxford, Miss. (145)
(a) Courtney Ellenbogen, Blacksburg, Va. (145)
A – (a) Cydney Clanton, Concord, N.C. (146)
A – (a) Lydia Gumm, Radcliff, Ky. (146)
A – Cat Johnston-Forbes, Kitty Hawk, N.C. (146)
A – (a) Stacey Kim, Columbus, Ga. (147)
6/11/07 – Houston, Texas (Westwood
Golf Club)
(a) Stacy Lewis, The Woodlands, Texas (145)
(a) Taylor Leon, Dallas, Texas (145)
Anna Acker-Macosko, Kerrville, Texas (146)
(a) Ashley Rollins, Austin, Texas (146)
A – Cindy Currier, Austin, Texas (147)
A – Claire Dury, New Zealand (148)