Confident Baba Bidding to Follow in Hattori’s Footsteps

Puget Sound, Washington, United States: At number 45 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Saki Baba was statistically the top player to reach the quarter-finals of the US Women’s Amateur.

With her second straight decisive match play victory in as many days, the teenage Japanese has shown the calibre of play that earned her that ranking, and then some.

Baba soundly defeated fellow 17-year-old Bailey Shoemaker of America 7&6 in Saturday’s semi-final at Chambers Bay to earn a spot in the 36-hole championship match.

It was the largest winning margin in a US Women’s Amateur semi-final since 1992 when Annika Sorenstam defeated Pat Cornett-Iker by the same margin. It ties the second-largest margin in the last 50 years behind Cathy Sherk’s 9&8 victory in the 1977 semis.

Baba is the first player from Japan to reach the US Women’s Amateur final since Michiko Hattori in 1985. Hattori won the championship that year.

Despite Shoemaker’s gutsy run to the semi-finals and strong play to this point, Baba won five of the first seven holes and didn’t allow Shoemaker to get close.

An example of Baba’s killer instinct came on the par-four 10th hole. Already five-up, she poured in an 18-foot birdie putt, punctuated by a fist pump, to win the hole after Shoemaker two-putted for par. The resulting six-up lead was never threatened.

When asked if she was feeling confident, Baba didn’t blush. “During the round I was just thinking, I’m going to win, I’m going to win, the whole time,” she said.

For Shoemaker, it was a disappointing end to a strong championship season. After finishing runner-up with partner Kaitlyn Schroeder in the US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship in Puerto Rico, she tied for 49th at the US Women’s Open in June and later that month became the first junior to win the Florida Women’s Amateur.

Just three weeks ago, the USC commit made a run to the quarter-finals of the US Girls’ Junior. She will now look ahead to her senior year of high school and contending in future USGA championships.

Due to the Baba blowout, the first semi-final match to begin play was the second one to end, and ultimately saw Monet Chun of Canada defeat Annabel Wilson, 2&1.

Chun, a 21-year-old junior at the University of Michigan, won the first hole with a conceded birdie after Wilson flared her second shot into the dunes and took two swings to extricate herself from a horrible lie.

Though Wilson got it right back with a win on the second hole, Chun’s steadiness was ultimately the key as she never fell behind and clinched the victory with a two-putt par on 17.

In high school, Chun stepped away from golf to rebuild her game after struggling with her swing. With renewed confidence this year, she won the Big 10 individual championship, the Canadian Women's Amateur and now has earned a spot in the US Women’s Amateur final.

“I wasn't very steady swing-wise, so being here right now is a huge accomplishment for me,” said Chun. “I feel like this past year in school was probably the best I’ve played so far, so I’m pretty happy with where I am.”

By virtue of making the final, Baba and Chun are now exempt into the 78th US Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica, to be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links in July, 2023. The runner-up must remain amateur to use the exemption.