Harigae Gets Revenge, Disposes Of Defending Champ Wuesthoff

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Fort Worth, Texas – When Mina Harigae perused for her third round opponent late Tuesday, one thought entered her head when she saw who it would be.

“Oh, awesome. Rematch!” said Harigae, 14, from Monterey, Calif.

Mina Harigae didn't have many reactions like this one during her match against Sukjin-Lee Wuesthoff Thursday. Harigae reacts after missing an 8-footer on the seventh hole. (Sam Greenwood/USGA)

Harigae was alluding being on to the wrong end of a 2-up decision suffered at the hands of eventual champion Sukjin-Lee Wuesthoff in last year's Girls' Junior semifinal. Coming in psyched, Harigae's workmanlike approach effectively dashed Wuesthoff's hopes of repeating.

The 5-and-4 victory was satisfying, sure, but more so because it validated Harigae's game. The three-time California Women's Amateur champion approached this year as a steppingstone, a way to compare herself to others in this year's Girls' Junior. So far, she obviously likes the results.

“Yeah, I wanted to see if I got any better,” said Harigae, in reference to using the match against Wuesthoff as a measuring stick.

Harigae, genial and unassuming, didn't come across as vindictive. There was no steely-eyed stare or bursts of emotions when things didn't go her way, which wasn't often. About the most stimulating moment, in terms of Harigae's personality, weren't borne from the fruits of her labor but while she was off the playing stage.

Waiting during a delay on the 12 th teeing ground, Harigae fumbled though her bag until she found a container. The girl – gasp! - likes barbeque potato chips.  

Thursday's match between the two along the extravagant home-lined Mira Vista course adopted a feel of two friends casually walking through a park. They spoke often, laughed at nothing in particular. And this was after Wuesthoff fell behind three holes after being brutalized by the par-5 11th hole.

The 11th, strange in the sense that players can approach the green via a tree-infested fork in the fairway, would appropriately epitomize Wuesthoff's day. With no sightline to the hole, Wuesthoff took a proverbial shot in the dark. The ball came up short of the green. She mis-hit her chip, and watched the ball come to a rest 18 feet short of the hole.

Sukjin-Lee Wuesthoff said afterward that there was nothing about her game that went well Thursday. (Sam Greenwood/USGA)

In contrast, Harigae, consistent off the tee and splendid with the short irons, knocked her approach shot within 10 feet of the hole. Wuesthoff ultimately conceded the hole, and perhaps her fighting will went with it at that point.

On the next hole, a par 3, Harigae hit a draw off the tee. The ball stopped 10 feet short of the hole. Wuesthoff also hit a draw, with the ball coming to a rest 20 feet away. Wuesthoff missed the putt; while Harigae did not to extend the lead to 4 up.

At this point, Harigae knew she was in the catbird's seat but optimistically cautious.

“I was thinking she could still come back, so I just told myself to make pars,” said Harigae.

Asked if there was anything specific about the match that didn't feel right, the 17-year-old Wuesthoff, whose feet were sore from Wednesday's round, said: “Everything. My driving, my short game, my iron shots – I didn't do anything well.”

Sometimes the fall of a champion is pervasive in its melancholy. But Wuesthoff didn't come across pensive, instead subscribing to the law of nature.

Namely fate.

“I'm not disappointed as much because I tried my best,” she said. “Some days things don't work out. Today was one of those days.”

Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.

Home / News / Players / Course / History