Brilliant Baba Crowned US Women’s Amateur Champion

Puget Sound, Washington, United States: Displaying superb ball striking, near-flawless putting and a killer competitive instinct, Saki Baba put on a clinic at the US Women’s Amateur Championship.

The 17-year-old from Japan defeated 21-year-old Canadian Monet Chun 11&9 on a chamber of commerce day at Chambers Bay. With the victory, Baba becomes just the second player from Japan to win a USGA championship, after Michiko Hattori won this title in 1985.

“It’s just amazing. I can't believe it. I was able to [play] my kind of golf. Everything went smoothly,” said Baba, whose margin of victory is the largest in a US Women’s Amateur final since Anne Sander in 1961. It is the largest margin of victory for a player from outside the United States.

Throughout the week, Baba's golf was very effective. She played 106 match play holes during the championship, tied for the second fewest by a champion since 1973, matching Morgan Pressel (2005) and behind only Carolyn Hill (103) in 1979.

From the sixth hole in her quarter-final match, Baba won 28 of the last 49 holes she played, losing only four in that span. In match play, Baba’s cumulative score was 24-under, including nine-under in the championship match.

In the final, she won the first hole with a par after Chun, a junior at the University of Michigan, hit into the dunes to the right and struggled to get back into play. After the two finalists tied the second hole with birdies, Baba won the next three in a row to build a four-up lead that quickly felt much larger.

Baba, who relentlessly hits fairways and greens and seems to make just about every putt inside 10 feet, increased her lead to five-up through eight holes. Chun, a steady player in her own right, was not able to mount a sustained comeback even when she hit quality shots.

“Honestly, I was trying to match it up, but it was pretty amazing just to watch,” said Chun. “She was going for every pin, making every putt, and that’s hard to match up.”

A prime example was the scenic, downhill par-four 14th hole. After both players split the fairway with their drives, Chun, who was six-down at the time, played first and hit her approach to 15 feet.

Baba, unfazed, struck a near-perfect iron shot that nestled just seven feet from the hole. Chun missed her birdie, Baba made hers, and the lead was seven-up, which was where it stood at the midway point of the 36-hole final – the largest lead after 18 holes in a US Women's Amateur final since Sander held a 12-up lead in 1961.

During a lengthy break for lunch and warm-up, Baba received ice and heat treatment for her lower back. She held her lower-left back as she walked off two teeing grounds just after the start of the second 18. Perhaps sensing an opportunity, Chun rolled in a birdie putt on the par-four second hole and won the par-three third with a par to trim Baba’s lead to five-up.

“If she made a mistake, lost a hole, it woke her up and she bounced right back,” said Beau Brushert, the Chambers Bay caddie who had Baba bag’s this week. “She didn’t let it get her down. She’s amazing. She’s a lot of fun to watch.”

The par-five fourth hole proved to be a turning point. Chun, playing first, hit a wedge approach to six feet behind the hole. Baba was just in front of the green in two but faced a difficult path to get her ball close. She played an exquisite high pitch that rolled up seven feet below the hole.

Showing the feel for the greens that helped her defeat five previous opponents, Baba rolled in the birdie putt to put the pressure on Chun, who missed. What looked like a hole that could have gone Chun’s way instead went for Baba, and the historic rout was back on.

Baba won the next four holes, three of them with birdies, to cap off the final margin of victory and put herself into the USGA annals as one of the most dominant victors in championship history.

What the Champion Receives

· Custody of the Robert Cox Trophy for one year
· A gold medal
· Exemption into the 78th US Women’s Open Championship Presented by ProMedica at Pebble Beach Golf Links
· Exemption into the next 10 US Women’s Amateur Championships, if eligible
· Exemption into the 2023 US Girls’ Junior Championship
· Exemptions into the 2023 Chevron Championship, AIG Women’s British Open and Amundi Evian Championship (must be an amateur)
· Invitation to the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur