NEWS

Jutanugarn of Thailand and Ardina of Philippines make final at Girls Junior

By Associated Press
Published on

Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn advanced to the finals of the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship with an 8 and 6 victory over 20th-seeded Amy Lee of the United States on Friday.

Jutanugarn, the top-ranked player in the field, won five holes on the front nine, then closed Lee out by taking the 10th, 11th and 12th holes. She was 5-under-par for her abbreviated round.

The Bangkok native will face Dottie Ardina of the Philippines, who beat seventh-seeded Yu Liu of China 2 and 1.

Ardina was 1 down to Liu after a bogey on the par-4 13th hole, but won the par-3 14th with a par, and then won the 16th and 17th with par 4s to win a spot in the final.

"If I win, it's a big win for me, for my lifetime," Ardina said. "I have to make my birdie putts. I missed a lot of them today."

Earlier in the day, Jutanugarn scored a 1 up victory over Gabriella Then in the quarterfinals, and Lee beat Talia Campbell 1 up. Ardina beat Summar Roachell 5 and 4 in the thunderstorm-interrupted match, and Liu beat Karen Chung 6 and 5 in her morning match.