Recap: Perrot Wins 2001 Girls' Junior

Mission Hills, Kan. -- Nicole Perrot, 17, of Santiago, Chile, birdied the 10th hole of a seesaw match to gain the lead for good to defeat Whitney Welch, 17, of Las Vegas, Nev., 3 and 2, at the 2001 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Indian Hills Country Club in Mission Hills, Kan.

"This match was really difficult because we were square, 1 up, 1 down," said Perrot, who hit all 13 fairways in the match. "On hole No. 9, I missed the putt and then I said, ‘Now if this match is going to anyplace, I have to put the pressure on for the second nine.’"

She did.

Perrot sank a curling 12-foot putt for birdie on the 10th hole to take a 1-up lead and the players halved the next four holes with par.

Welch, who starting playing golf less than three years ago, hit her drive on the par-4 15th into a fairway bunker and then could not convert her par putt.

With a 2-up lead at the 16th tee, Perrot drove into the fairway and hit a 4-iron to 20 feet and two-putted. The championship belonged to Perrot when Welch’s short par putt edged past the hole.

"A lot of people thought I missed the 2-footer because I was nervous," said Welch, who twice had 1-up leads on the front nine. "But, I see every putt going in. I do it all the time. I line it up, set it up, and putt. I was startled, absolutely."

"I’m really happy. I am really excited right now," said Perrot, who played for Chile in the 1998 and 2000 Women’s World Amateur Team Championships. "It was a difficult week but I played really well all week. My irons and putting were the key this week."

In the course of the semifinal and final rounds of match play, Perrot made 10 birdies in 26 holes on the 6,032-yard, par-70 A.W. Tillinghast course, including six in 13 holes in the semifinals.

Perrot, after a 1-up win in the first round of match play, did not have to play past the 15th hole until the championship match, which finished on the 16th.

In Friday morning’s semi-final, Perrot was joined by her older brother, Raul, 27, who flew 10 hours overnight from Santiago, Chile. The highest remaining seeded player (No. 3) once match play reached the quarterfinal round, Perrot was one of only three players to break par during stroke play by shooting 73-66—139 (1-under).

Christina Kim, 17 of San Jose, Calif., had a historic 8-under-par 62 in the second round of stroke play, which is the lowest 18-hole score in USGA history. Her front nine score of 29 tied a USGA mark. The 62 also broke the Indian Hills women’s course record held by the legendary Opal Hill, who shot 66 in 1937.

Also, along historical lines, Morgan Pressel, 13, of Boca Raton, Fla., reached the semifinals. It is believed that Pressel, who is the youngest to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open (at age 12), is also the youngest semifinalist in the 53 years of the Girls’ Junior championship.

Aree Wongluekiet, 15, of Bradenton, Fla., and the 1999 champion, lost in the first round of match play in 20 holes to Aimee Cho, 17, of Orlando, Fla.