Puget Sound, Washington, United States: Saki Baba’s sensational year continued on Thursday with two impressive triumphs seeing her qualify for the quarter-finals at the 122nd US Women’s Amateur.
In the Round of 32, the 17-year-old Japanese ended the hopes of Alice Zhao Ziyi, the 13-year-old co-medallist from China, with a 3&1 victory.
Returning to the Chambers Bay course in the afternoon, Baba enjoyed a similar margin of victory against American Aneka Seumanutafa to become the first quarter-finalist from Japan since Nasa Hataoka in 2016. Baba’s reward is a last eight clash with American Lauren Lehigh on Friday.
On the back of an outstanding run of results this year, Baba has risen to 45th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). She is the highest ranked player remaining in the field at Chambers Bay.
Among her many highlights this year, Baba won the Kanto Women’s Amateur Championship and Kanto Junior Championship on home soil. In America she was co-medallist and reached the Round of 32 in the US Girls’ Junior, and was one of four amateurs to make the cut in the 2022 US Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club.
Baba’s quarter-final opponent Lehigh is a junior at the University of New Mexico who is 520th in the WAGR.
Lehigh, who has not trailed in any of her matches to date, played Chambers Bay in a collegiate tournament in April and cited the experience as ‘huge’ in helping her get to know the nuances of the firm, fast layout.
Lehigh is making her second US Women’s Amateur start after missing the cut for match play in 2019. “I finally made it back this year, and my only goal was to make match play,” said Lehigh. “To make it this far is pretty unbelievable.”
Baba is the only member of the Asia-Pacific contingent to have made it to the last eight.
After brushing aside Japan’s Nika Ito 5&4 in the morning Round of 32, Australian Kelsey Bennett had high hopes of going deeper into the tournament. But she was eliminated by Brianna Navarrosa on the 21st hole of their thrilling Round of 16 clash, which turned into the longest match of the day, and of the championship so far.
The 20-year-old Californian Navarrosa and 22-year-old Bennett exchanged 11 lead changes, and neither player held more than a one-up lead at any point.
Bennett, runner-up in last year's Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific, sunk two clutch putts, one on the par-three 17th to extend the match and an eight-foot birdie putt on 18 to send the match to extra holes. USC junior Navarrosa won the match on the par-three third hole (21st of the match) with a par after Bennett hit her tee shot in the front greenside bunker and made bogey.
“It hasn't sunk in yet,” said Navarrosa, who beat world number three Rachel Heck in the morning. “I think my game is the best where it’s been in a very long time.”
In addition to the losses of Ito and Zhao, two other Asia-Pacific players bowed out in the Round of 32.
Chinese Taipei’s Yu Han-hsuan was overwhelmed 7&5 by American Katie Li, while Australian Maddison Hinson-Tolchard fell 4&3 to Annabelle Pancake of the US.
