Granada, Park To Meet In Girls' Junior Final

Fort Worth, Texas – Medalist Julieta Granada, 17, of Paraguay, and 17-year-old Jane Park of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., will meet in Saturday's final match of the 56 th U.S. Girls' Junior, being held on the sun-splashed 6,256-yard, par-71 Mira Vista Golf Club.

In Friday's semifinal round, Granada exacted revenge against 17-year-old Paula Creamer of Pleasanton, Calif., winning 1 up. Last year at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn., the outcome was reversed, with Creamer winning 1 up in the quarterfinals.

In the second match, Park eliminated 16-year-old Hsiao-Ching Lu of Chinese Taipei, 4 and 2. It will mark the first time Granada and Park have advanced to the finals.

Jane Park follows through off the eighth tee during Friday's semifinal match. (Sam Greenwood/USGA)

“It feels good [to be in the final],” said a beaming Granada. “I've hardly thought about it. I'll sure think about it tonight.

“It was so hard. Every shot counted, every putt counted. It was hard to breathe.”

Granada had an ominous beginning. She missed a 2-footer on the first hole, which would translate into Creamer's biggest lead of the match. It would be one of Granada's few mistakes.

She was a model of consistency, striking 17 of 18 fairways and 12 of 14 greens. In fact, she didn't miss her first green in regulation until the par-5 11th, which has a split fairway. The losing result on the hole to erase a 1-up lead would have unnerved a lesser player, but Granada learned not to be as aggressive going forward.

The whole week Granada had opted to play it safe by taking the left route on the fairway. Instead, with 238 yards to the hole, she got greedy and stayed right. The ball took a huge skip left, well before the green, before bounding into the hazard. Absorbing a one-stroke penalty, the best Granada could hope for was a three-putt by Creamer.

“I don't know what I was thinking,” said Granada, who played the front nine at 3-under 32. “I hit the shot and said to myself, ‘What did you just do? Do you have a brain inside?'”

Four birdies on the front nine equated to a 2-up lead for Granada at the turn. But Creamer's inconsistency also helped, as she struck just 4 of 7 fairways to that point and 67 percent of her greens. A three-putt on No. 8 and a bogey on the ninth, losing both holes, didn't help.

“The front nine I really didn't think I made her have to play golf,” said Creamer, who played on the victorious USA Curtis Cup team this year.

The two halved four consecutive holes after No. 11, with the 14th serving as a savvy display of putting. From the back left fringe on the green, Creamer rolled in an 8-footer to force Granada into a must-make situation. Granada stepped up and sank a tricky 6-footer that broke left to right. It brought out a fist pump.

The crushing point for Creamer came on the par-4 17th. With Granada winning the 16th, Creamer muffed a golden chance to even the match. Just off the green, Creamer pitched to 2 feet of the hole. Granada sent her 20-footer to 2 feet before holing out. She turned around, assuming Creamer would convert to halve the hole. The ball rimmed the left outer edge of the hole, coloring Creamer's face with shock. Creamer cited a bad stroke.

“I thought for sure she was going to make it, so I wasn't looking,” said Granada. “I was actually going to give it to her, but I decided to make her practice a little bit.”

On the par-4 fifth hole, Paula Creamer gets out of the back greenside bunker. She eventually conceded the hole. (Sam Greenwood/USGA)

Heading to the final hole, Creamer couldn't shrug off the blunder.

Said Creamer: “All I could think about on 18 is ‘You idiot. How could you miss that?' I never did shrug it off.”

On No. 18, when Creamer couldn't sink a 20-footer on the undulating green, she conceded. She credited Granada, but faulted herself for the six missed fairways and seven missed greens.

“I feel I should have won the [championship],” said Creamer. “I should have been off the golf course sooner than 18 holes.”

In the other semifinal match, Park won three consecutive holes against Lu starting at the par-4, 401-yard 2nd when Lu was unable to get up and down after hitting her approach shot in the left greenside bunker.

Park won the par-3, 168-yard third hole when she sank a 10-foot birdie putt, and Lu's 8-footer to match lipped out. Park extended her lead at 362-yard, par-4 4th when Lu needed two tries to chip up from just left of the green. 

For Park, the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur runner-up and a member of the victorious 2004 USA Curtis Cup squad, the early lead was nice, but she did not let up.

“It gave me a little cushion,” said Park. “But even though I was three up, I didn't think I was going to run away with it, because she has such a good short game. Even though I was three up, I couldn't let down. When you're three up, you want to go four up.  When you're four up, you want to go five up. That's the attitude that I kept.”

Twice Lu was able to cut the deficit to two holes, but Park won the 15th to go 3 up and dormie after Lu three-putted. The match ended on the par-4, 307-yard 16th hole. While Park's drive just short of the green, about 15 feet from the hole, Lu conceded the hole when she failed to get on the green in two, giving Park a 4-and-2 victory.

It's the farthest Park has advanced in her four appearances in the Girls' Junior – previously she made it to the quarterfinals at the 2002 championship. She is coming off a disappointing appearance in the U.S. Women's Open, where she shot rounds of 74-83 and missed the cut.

“I was kind of struggling with my game before I came here but as the week progressed my game got more tidy,” Park said. “I just told myself, ‘If you just keep the ball in play, make the right club choice and have good course management, you'll be fine,' and I did that this whole week.”

The semifinal was a rematch of a first-round match at the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links at the Green Course at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va., which Park won, 5 and 4. 

“I'm a little disappointed,” said Lu. “Jane is a really good player and I didn't expect to win, but I was hoping to play better. But I played many days of good golf here this week and even though today I didn't do as well, I'm happy to have advanced to the semifinals.”

The U.S. Girls' Junior is one of 13 national championships for individuals conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Story written by Ken Klavon, USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.

Results

Fort Worth, Texas – Results from the semifinal round of match play Friday at the 2004 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at the 6,256-yard, par-71 Mira Vista Golf Club:

Round of 4

Upper Bracket

Julieta Granada, Paraguay (138) def. Paula Creamer, Pleasanton, Calif. (140), 1 up

Lower Bracket

Jane Park, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. (143) def. Hsiao-Ching Lu, Chinese Taipei (150), 4 and 2

Pairing

Fort Worth, Texas – Pairing for Saturday's championship final at the 2004 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at the 6,256-yard, par-71 Mira Vista Golf Club:

9 a.m.   Julieta Granada, Paraguay (138) vs. Jane Park, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. (143)

Home / News / Players / Course / History