Tearful Hou Edged Out in Thrilling Westchester Finale

New York, United States: Jensen Castle completed one of the most improbable runs in US Women’s Amateur history by defeating Vivian Hou Yu-chiang 2 and 1 in Sunday’s 36-hole championship match at Westchester Country Club.

Castle, 20, of West Columbia, South Carolina, a University of Kentucky junior who opened the week with a seven-over-par 79 in Monday’s first round of stroke play and then survived a 12-for-two play-off just to reach match play, became the first Number 63 seed to hoist the Robert Cox Trophy.

Hou was hoping to become the third University of Arizona golfer to win a USGA title this summer, joining Jim Furyk (US Senior Open) and Annika Sorenstam (US Senior Women’s Open). Instead, she is the fourth Wildcat to fall one match short in this championship, joining Sorenstam (1992), Marisa Baena (1996) and her current coach, Laura (Myerscough) Ianello (2000), who flew in for the final match.

Hou was tearful in the moments after the match ended as she was consoled by Ianello, team-mate Maya Benita, her caddie/sister, Yu-sang, and another Chinese Taipei player (Yu Han-hsuan) who failed to qualify for match play.

“This is golf, and I am really looking forward to what’s next for me,” said Hou, who has entered the first stage of LPGA Tour Qualifying School with her sister, starting on August 19 in Rancho Mirage. “Congratulations to the champion. She played really well.”

A two-time participant in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific and a former number one in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who came into the week at number 21, Hou said: “[I’m] really proud of myself, and happy with this result. I will never think of that, you know, three months ago.”

Having her older sister Yu-sang, who completed her eligibility at Arizona in May, on her bag, added to the experience for Hou. “It’s something really special for both of us. My sister hasn’t caddied for me in a long time. My bag was really heavy, and I can’t imagine what she’s been through this whole week.

“Nine rounds of golf in seven days. I really have no idea how she came through that. We really had a lot of fun on the golf course and really enjoy our time here.”

Castle is the third Number 63 seed in USGA history to win a title since seeding began in the mid-1980s – Clay Ogden (2005 US Amateur Public Links) and Steven Fox (2012 US Amateur) are the others.

Already exempt into the 2022 US Women’s Open by virtue of reaching the final match, Castle assured herself a spot on the eight-woman 2021 USA Curtis Cup Team that will face Great Britain and Ireland in Wales (August 26-28).

“Still hasn’t registered,” said Castle. “It feels like just another tournament, but then I step back and I’m like, this is a USGA event with so much history, and I just can’t imagine. All the exemptions, I didn’t even realise [I had coming].”

Castle arrived at Westchester Country Club having not played any competitive golf since her US Women’s Amateur qualifier in Dayton, Ohio, on July 8 because of a stress fracture in her ribs.

Her expectations were so low that she didn’t pack enough outfits for her winning run and also had to change her accommodations mid-week, going from a hotel to a friend’s residence in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut. She also used the same golf ball with a Kentucky logo for her last five matches.

Yet even with low expectations, Castle displayed a bulldog mentality that served her well, especially in the semi-finals when she rallied from two-down with three to play to oust world number two and reigning NCAA champion Rachel Heck in 19 holes.

“Everyone gives me [a hard time] for my resting face,” said Castle. “I’m very aggressive and blunt so it doesn’t go together very well. But I promise I’m friendly. I’m very competitive on the golf course. That’s only over top of the ball.”

For Hou it was a disappointing defeat, especially when she took a two-up lead after the first 18 holes.

But the 20-year-old University of Arizona junior was unable to match Castle, who came out blistering hot to open the afternoon round, winning three of the first four holes with birdies, and adding a fourth win with a par on the 26th hole to take a two-up lead through 27.

Castle, 248th in the latest WAGR, extended the lead to three holes with a winning par on the 29th hole.

But Hou, who hadn’t played a competitive event since the NCAA Championships in late May due to a partially torn labrum in her left hip, showed the determination that made her the Women’s Golf Coaches Association Freshman of the Year in 2020.

A brilliant up-and-down birdie from greenside rough on the par-five 30th set in motion two consecutive wins to trim the margin to one-down. She rolled in a birdie on the par-four 31st, but then missed an eight-foot par putt on the 33rd that gave Castle a two-up lead with three to play.

Hou rebounded for the final time by hitting her tee shot on the 203-yard, par-three 34th to 10 feet below the flagstick for a winning birdie.

Castle then found a way to deliver the final knockout blow, holing a nine-foot birdie putt on the 35th hole to give the University of Kentucky its first US Women’s Amateur champion.