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Semifinalists are set at the U.S. Women's Amateur
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The semifinalists are set at the U.S. Women's Amateur after a day of upsets, blowouts and close matches alike at CC of Charleston. Doris Chen will play Yueer Cindy Feng at 10:00 a.m. Saturday with Alison Lee and Emma Talley squaring off at 10:10.
On Friday, USC's Chen defeated reigning Women's Amateur Public Links champion Lauren Diaz-Yi, 4 and 3. In winning the Public Links, Diaz-Yi defeated Chen, 10 and 9, in the 36-hole final at Jimmie Austin OU GC in Norman, Okla. After losing the first hole in the rematch, Chen made four birdies in 14 holes and never trailed the rest of the way.
"I didn't really see it as revenge," said Chen, who won the U.S. Girls' Junior in 2010. "I just wanted to perform today and make sure my mind was on the right track."
Chen's semifinal opponent, Feng, defeated another USC Trojan and NCAA champ Annie Park, 6 and 4. Like Chen, Feng also lost the first hole of the match, but needed only one birdie the rest of the way to hold off Park, who didn't have the game that marked her play during the college season.
In another lopsided match, Lee defeated Texas' Katelynn Sepmoree, 4 and 3. Lee took a 2-up lead through eight holes, then won the par-5 ninth with a hole-out eagle from the fairway before a par at 10 extended her lead to 4 up.
"That shot on nine really gave me some momentum," said Lee. "[Katelynn] was on in two so I knew I had to make birdie at the worst."
Lee will play Alabama's Talley, who survived a tense quarterfinal match against the world's second ranked amateur, Su-Hyun Oh, to advance to the semis. Neither player held more then a 1-up lead throughout the match, which ended when Oh missed a par putt on the 19th hole. Talley, ranked 65th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, made several lengthy putts on the last few holes including a playoff-forcing five footer on the 18th hole.
Chen is the only USGA champion of the four quarterfinalists, Lee having lost to Minjee Lee in the final of the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior. Feng has never made it past the quarterfinals in a USGA event, and Talley has never advanced past the Round of 16. Each player will look to build on their already impressive resumes tomorrow. Golf Channel will have tape-delayed coverage Saturday from 4-6 p.m.