China's Zhong Powers to Medallist Honours in Portland
Oregon, United States: Playing in her third USGA championship of the 2026 season, China’s Zhong Xiaolong carded a record-tying round en route to medallist honours at the 64th US Senior Women’s Amateur.
Portland, Oregon, United States: Playing in her third USGA championship of the 2026 season, China’s Zhong Xiaolong carded a record-tying round en route to medallist honours at the 64th US Senior Women’s Amateur.
The cut for match play at Portland Golf Club fell at 20-over-par 164, with eight golfers set to return to the course on Monday morning for the final seven spots in the bracket.
Also advancing to the match play phase were Australians Gemma Dooley (tied 16th, 155) and Nadene Gole (tied 34th, 161) and Japan’s Akemi Nakata Khaiat (tied 47th, 163). Gole was the champion in 2024.
Australian Sue Wooster posted a 36-hole total of 165 and missed the cut by one shot.
No player had a better second day than Zhong, who grew up in China but now resides in northern California. One of nine 50-year-old competitors in the championship, she improved by 11 strokes from her opening six-over 78, carding a 67 to tie the lowest round in championship history.
Zhong’s day opened with back-to-back birdies on holes two and three, followed by another birdie on the 290-yard, par-four sixth. Making the turn at three-under, she continued her strong play on the back, adding two additional birdies and seven pars.
The US Senior Women’s Amateur rookie’s bogey-free five-under 67 was the lowest round of the weekend, four strokes clear of the next-closest mark.
Zhong said: “My putting was the strongest part of my game. But really, everything. I had two friends play in my group with me, so it was very comfortable out there. That was a big part of why I played so well.”
Zhong’s performance in Portland comes as little surprise to those who have kept tabs on her play throughout the 2026 season.
She has enjoyed a stellar campaign, winning six Northern California Golf Association (NCGA) titles, including the NCGA Senior Women’s Match Play at Poppy Hills Golf Club, and reaching match play at the US Women’s Mid-Amateur at Montclair Golf Club in late August.
She also earned low-amateur honours at the 2026 US Senior Women’s Open at Barton Hills Country Club, in Michigan, finishing 17th at 11-over 299.
Amandine Vincent and Tina Papatolis, who shared the 18-hole lead, slipped down the leaderboard on Sunday, opening the door for Zhong. Vincent finished stroke play in second place with a three-over 75, while Papatolis carded an 80 to finish eighth.
Three-time champion Lara Tennant is the only Oregonian to advance to match play. Tennant, who won her last US Senior Women’s Amateur in 2021, followed up a first-round 79 with a 75.
