Final Reckoning Awaits Chinese Taipei's Hou

New York, United States: Vivian Hou Yu-chiang saw off the challenge of Valentina Rossi to book her place in the final of the 121st US Women’s Amateur Championship.

The 20-year-old from Chinese Taipei defeated her Argentinian opponent two-up at Westchester Country Club to earn herself a shot at history in Sunday’s 36-hole final against University of Kentucky junior Jensen Castle.

A partially torn labrum in her left hip kept Hou from playing any competitive golf since the NCAAs concluded in late May. But she is rediscovering her rhythm, and is now the first Arizona golfer to reach the championship match since her head coach Laura (Myerscough) Ianello in 2000

Hou is the fourth University of Arizona golfer to advance to the championship match but is hoping to be the first to hoist the Robert Cox Trophy. Besides Ianello’s loss in 2000, Marisa Baena (1996) and Annika Sorenstam (1992) also lost in the final.

“It's really amazing representing my college and then wearing all the U of A [outfits]. I really want to make them proud and make my coach, my teammates, and all the support system back in my college [proud]. It's really special,” said Hou, the 2020 Women’s Golf Coaches Association Freshman of the Year and a two-time participant in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific.

Hou, who briefly held the top spot in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking before falling to her current position of 21, had not played the 17th and 18th holes since Tuesday’s final round of stroke play. That wouldn’t be the case against the left-handed Rossi, as it was a tight match throughout.

Against Michigan State sophomore Rossi, Hou took a two-up lead with a 12-foot birdie on the 10th, but mistakes on 13 and 15 – she badly pulled her drive on the latter into the fescue leading to a double-bogey six – allowed Rossi to tie the match.

On 17, Rossi’s approach from the fairway sailed over the green into deep rough. Two shots later, she conceded Hou’s par to go one-down.

On 18, Hou split the fairway but Rossi pushed her drive left. After punching out, Rossi hit her third shot just over the green. Seeing that her opponent faced a difficult fourth shot, Hou could have taken the conservative route by playing to the middle of the green. Instead, she took dead aim with a pitching wedge from 96 yards out, stopping the ball five feet from the flagstick.

When Rossi skulled her fourth and failed to hole her fifth, the Spartan conceded the hole and match.

“I'm not nervous, but I knew I couldn't do anything if it's because of my bad shot,” said Hou of her emotions coming down the stretch. “So I just tried to focus more on my shot by shot and tried to hit greens and then just get back to my normal routine.”

As finalists, Hou and Castle are exempt into the 2022 US Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Resort in Southern Pines, North Carolina (June 2-5). The champion also receives exemptions into the next 10 US Women’s Amateurs, while the runner-up earns a three-year exemption.

Castle secured her final spot by beating world number two Rachel Heck at the 19th hole. Should Castle prevail on Sunday, she would be the third Number 63 seed to claim a USGA title, following Clay Ogden (2005 US Amateur Public Links) and Steven Fox (2012 US Amateur). She is the first University of Kentucky golfer to reach the final.

“I keep forgetting I'm the 63rd seed,” said Castle, who has battled a rib injury most of the summer. “I feel like seeds are irrelevant once you get into match play. It's everyone's game. I’m just glad that the doctor said I could play.”

Heck was bidding to join Vicki Goetze (1992) as the only players to win the NCAA and US Women’s Amateur titles in the same year. She seemed poised to join her Pacific-12 Conference rival in the championship match. She held a two-up lead through 15 holes after holing a 35-foot chip shot for birdie.

But after finding a greenside bunker on the par-three 16th that led to a bogey (Castle two-putted for a winning par), Heck suddenly found herself with a precarious one-up lead with two to play. The two tied 17 and Heck reached the par-five closing hole in regulation. With Castle in for par, Heck, who missed her birdie attempt, had a four-footer for par to close out the match.

Heck, a rising sophomore at Stanford University, pulled the putt badly for just her second bogey of the match.

“I thought for sure she won,” said Castle of Heck’s par putt on 18. “I couldn't believe she missed it.”

With newfound life – and confidence – Castle, with the honor and added adrenaline, blistered a drive just short of the green and right of a greenside bunker on the 274-yard 19th hole. Heck slightly pulled her drive left of the green in the rough.

Playing first, Heck’s shot stopped 12 feet short of the flagstick. Castle, whose ball was in the intermediate cut, came up 15 feet short. It looked as if Heck had the upper hand. Laser-focused, Castle perfectly executed the birdie putt, but showed no emotion. Heck still had a chance to continue the match, but the ball hit the right-back portion of the hole and lipped out.