Medalist Anderson, Defending Champion Thompson Post Second-Round Wins

By David Shefter, USGA           

Bedminster, N.J. – Defending champion Alexis Thompson and stroke-play medalist Amy Anderson were among the 16 golfers to register second-round victories Thursday morning at the 61st U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship being conducted at Trump National Golf Club.

Second- and third-round matches for the Girls’ Junior were conducted Thursday on the 6,289-yard, par-72 New Course. The third round of match play was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

On Friday, matches for both the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Junior Amateur, which are being conducted concurrently at Trump National, will be held on the New Course, as will Saturday’s 36-hole final.

Alexis Thompson needed only 13 holes to eliminate Kyung Kim in the second round of the U.S. Girls' Junior on Thursday morning at Trump National Golf Club's New Course. (John Mummert/USGA)

Thompson, 14, of Coral Springs, Fla., shot the equivalent of four under par – with the usual match-play concessions – in a 6-and-5 victory, while Anderson, 17, of Oxbow, N.D., snuck past 17-year-old Isabelle Lend of Goshen, Conn., 1 up. Lendl, who turns 18 on July 29, was the oldest player in this week’s Girls’ Junior field.

Bidding become just the third back-to-back winner of this championship, Thompson built a 5-up lead through eight holes and cruised home. She has only played 27 holes over her first two matches. She was scheduled to face Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn in the third round Thursday afternoon. Jutanugarn eliminated Stephanie Meadow of Northern Ireland, 2 up.

“I’m going to eat and then just warm back up again, like it’s the first round,” said Thompson, who made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open two weeks ago at Saucon Valley Country Club. “I hit it pretty well [this morning].”

Anderson, who shot 3-under 141 to win the qualifying medal by one stroke, and Lendl had a back-and-forth match that saw neither player take more than a 2-up lead. All square through 14 holes, Anderson posted winning pars at 15 and 16 for a 2-up lead. Lendl then won No. 17 with a par, but when both parred 18, the match was over.

This was the second time in two years Anderson had eliminated a Lendl from the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Last year at Hartford Golf Club, she beat Isabelle’s younger sister, Daniela, 3 and 2, in the first round. Daniela was eliminated at Trump National on Thursday by Victoria Park of Irvine, Calif., 8 and 7.

“It was actually after the round [on Wednesday] that I went to the range and I worked on a few things,” said Anderson, who was to face 14-year-old Alison Lee of Valencia, Calif., in the third round Thursday afternoon. “I got some things straightened out. I’m going to get back out there quick before I go off again and see if I can find it. Today versus yesterday, it was drier. We were getting a little bit more roll. But because the New Course is [86 yards] longer, it was probably playing about the same yardage.”

In other notable second-round matches, 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Kimberly Kim, 17, of Hilo, Hawaii, ousted 2007 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Kristen Park, 16, of Buena Park, Calif., 5 and 4. Kim, the runner-up at last month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship and a member of the victorious 2008 USA Curtis Cup team, was even par through 14 holes when the match concluded.

Kim next faces 16-year-old Jessica Korda of Bradenton, Fla., who earned a 1-up win over Canada’s Nicole Zhang. Korda has shot final-round 69s in each of the last two U.S. Women’s Opens.

Victoria Tanco, 15, of Argentina, a two-time U.S. Women’s Open qualifier (2008 and 2009), also continued her roll with a 5-and-4 win over Kendall Martindale of Jefferson City, Tenn. Tanco, the 2008 American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year, has only played 26 holes in two matches.

But second-seeded Erynne Lee, 16, of Silverdale, Wash., a semifinalist at the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur, was not so fortunate. She was ousted by Doris Chen of Bradenton, Fla., 3 and 1.

Two second-round matches went extra holes. Luz Alejandra Cangrejo of Colombia defeated Jackie Chang of Paradise Valley, Ariz., in 19 holes, while Daffodil Sanchez of Mesa, Ariz., edged 2009 U.S. Women’s Open qualifier Mariko Tumangan of San Jose, Calif., in 20 holes. Sanchez had a 2-up lead with two to play .

David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.