USGA photo
SUNRIVER, Ore. (Sept. 4, 2007)--Medalist Patty Moore, 57, of Charlotte, N.C., and three past champions led the group of 16 winners Tuesday in the weather-delayed second round of match play at the 2007 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur at Sunriver Resort’s 5,975-yard Meadows Course.
Moore’s 3 & 2 victory over Reggie Parker, of Hobe Sound, Fla., set up a re-match of last year’s quarterfinals. In 2006, she met Anna Schultz, 52, of Rockwall, Texas, who moved on to the championship match but lost to Diane Lang. Schultz defeated Holly Horwood, of Canada, 5 & 4, in her second-round match.
"I owe her one,” said Moore, of her 1-down loss to Schultz. “I want to exact a little revenge. I will be motivated. I am sure she will be too.”
Moore is vying to become just the second medalist to win the championship, which Carol Semple Thompson did in 2002.
Fast-approaching thunderstorms caused play to be suspended for two hours and two minutes. Moore and Parker were playing in the day’s first match and had completed four holes with the match status at all square.
"My driver kind of hurt me at first,” said Moore, a three-time Carolinas Golf Association Player of the Year. “The rain delay probably helped me think about having a chance to change the momentum.”
The 2005 and 2006 champion Diane Lang, 52, of Weston, Fla., took another step in defense of her title with a 4 & 3 win over Joan Higgins, of Glendora, Calif. The Jamaican-born Lang is vying to become just the sixth player to win three Senior Women’s Amateurs. Next in her path is another past champion, Carolyn Creekmore, 55, of Dallas, Texas. Creekmore, the 2004 winner, was a 2 & 1 winner of Joan Geraty, of Ada, Mich.
Four-time winner Carol Semple Thompson, 58, of Sewickley, Pa., again recovered from a slow start and defeated fellow Pennsylvania Connie Shorb, of York, 1-up. Semple Thompson is playing in her 106th USGA championship..
Mary Budke, 53, of Eugene, the only remaining player from the state did not advance. Budke, an emergency room doctor is the 1972 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and past Curtis Cup player.
For a couple of players, this morning’s 2-hour, 2-minute delay proved beneficial to their respective second-round wins on Tuesday at Sunriver Resort’s Meadows Course.
Madelaine Campbell, of Newport Beach, Calif., was 1-down to Terry Mayes, of Gilroy, Calif., through three holes when the horn blew. Campbell returned to the clubhouse and waited out the delay.
“I certainly didn’t do anything differently,” she said of her time spent during the delay.
Campbell, who had been 2-over-par through the first three holes, came out blazing by winning the first five holes after the delay. Through the outward nine, Campbell was 4-up. She went on to win 5 & 3.
“I had a pretty good front nine overall,” she said. “The greens were softer and a lot more receptive to shots into them.”
Campbell was not overly shocked to be in the third round, but admits to flying under the radar.
“I don’t think I have the pressure on me that some of the bigger names have, so I just go out and play one match at a time,” she said.
Then there was Cecilia Mourgue D’Algue, of France. She had just stiffed her approach at the 497-yard, par-4 second to within a couple of feet when the horn blew. Opponent Patricia French, of Tulsa, Okla., was left standing over her third-shot approach.
“It helped to come back out to a short putt, yes,” said Morgue D’Algue, who won the hole to got 1 up en route to an easy 6-and-4 decision. “I had a lot of good short putts and my short game was good. No three putts and that always helps.”
Mourgue D’Alque, 61, was runner-up in 1999, and is three-time semifinalist. But she still enjoys the hunt of a possible second title.
“I have to say this is my favorite tournament of the year to play,” she said. “It’s very exciting to win and advance. I’ll just keep trying to do more of the same.”
Being the oldest of the remaining 16 third-round participants, Mourgue D’Alque admitted to still feeling fresh. A 14-hole second-round match can do that for a player.
--Story courtesy USGA
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