Steely Wilson Stands Firm in Hard-Fought Final

Kentucky, United States: Yana Wilson captured the 73rd US Girls’ Junior Championship at The Club at Olde Stone with a 3&2 victory over Gianna Clemente in the 36-hole final.

Wilson, a quarter-finalist in last year’s US Girls’ Junior (she fell to eventual champion and world number one Rose Zhang), went 6-0 in match play over the past four days in extreme heat and humidity to add her name to the pantheon of legendary champions who have etched their names on the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy.

The title also comes with an exemption into the 78th US Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica next July at Pebble Beach Golf Links. A number of US Women’s Open champions have won the US Girls’ Junior, including Mickey Wright, JoAnne Gunderson Carner, Hollis Stacy, Amy Alcott, Park In-bee, Ariya Jutanugarn and last month’s champion, Minjee Lee.

“It means a lot,” said 15-year-old Wilson, a two-time 12-13 age-group Drive, Chip & Putt champion. “Today I looked at the boards that [the USGA put up] walking up to hole one, and I saw a lot of the girls who won the US Girls’ Junior had won the US Open, and they have become legends. Hopefully one day I can join them.”

The rising high school junior has already built quite a résumé, including a victory over Anna Davis at this year’s Annika Invitational in Orlando, when she holed a 75-yard wedge shot on the first play-off hole. That made Wilson 10 of 11 in play-offs. In 2020 at age 14, she won the Joanne Winter Arizona Silver Belle, becoming the youngest champion in an event that dates to 1971.

“I try not to get affected by little things,” said Wilson, who ousted Chinese Taipei’s Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan in the Round of 16. “I feel like sometimes the opponents that I play against are really fiery, and if stuff doesn't go their way they get upset. I feel like I’m just a very steady player.”

No more so than in the afternoon portion of the final. Trailing one-down on the 26th green, Wilson had a golden chance to tie up the match, but badly pulled her putt. But she didn’t let the setback affect her attitude. And on the next hole, a par-five, she two-putted from 50 feet for a winning birdie.

When 14-year-old Clemente failed to get up-and-down for par from a greenside bunker at the 28th hole, Wilson took the lead for good. Down the stretch, she converted several putts of six feet or less to tie or win holes.

Clemente, who in 2019 became the third-youngest player to qualify for the US Women’s Amateur, never got her putter going. At least not like Friday’s semi-final when she converted eight birdies in a 6&5 win over Colombian Maria Jose Marin.

On Thursday morning in the Round of 32, she rallied from four-down with eight to play to defeat Adrian Anderson, two-up, a run that included three birdies. But on Saturday, she lipped out a 12-footer for birdie on the 32nd hole that could have halved a two-down deficit.

She also three-putted from 60 feet on the 33rd hole, missing an eight-foot par attempt to go three-down. Even her last-ditch comeback effort on the 149-yard 34th hole came up a few inches short as her 15-footer for birdie didn’t quite have enough speed.

“I definitely need to do some putting work,” said Clemente, who defeated Australian Justice Bosio in the quarter-finals.  “But I can’t complain about winning five matches. Just need to move on to the next one. I’m going to go home and rest and prepare for the [US Women’s Amateur in a couple of weeks].”

When the match concluded, Wilson, with a small group of supporters made up mainly of the grandchildren of two-time US Senior Open champion Kenny Perry, was doused by water before being handed the trophy and awarded the gold medal in a ceremony on the green.

It had been a long day and a tough match, where neither player had held more than a one-up lead for the first 30 holes. The morning 18 ended with Wilson taking the advantage into the lunch break when she nearly holed out her fourth shot on the 549-yard, par-five, and Clemente missed a six-footer for par.