Gregg Defeats Ledwein, But Loses in U.S. Women's Am Quarterfinals, as Top Seeds Disappear

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UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. -- On Wednesday, after she survived an 8-for-4 playoff to claim the No. 64 seed at the U.S. Women's Amateur, and then knocked off top-seeded Latanna Stone in the first round of match play, Julia Misemer said she didn't attach much importance to seedings. 

"I feel like it's really anyone's game," she explained.

Although she's no longer in the tournament, the results from Thursday's double round of matches made Misemer look like a prophet. 

Only one of the top 29 seeds is still alive going into the quarterfinals on Friday. 
 
Catherine Rao, an 18-year-old Princeton University recruit from Camarillo, Calif., shot 73-67--140 at Chambers Bay in the stroke-play portion of the tournament. That put her in a tie for seventh place, and she was assigned the No. 8 seed for match play. Since then, she's beaten No. 57 Izzy Pellot 1 up in the Round of 64, No. 25 Sara Im 2&1 in the Round of 32 and No. 24 Annabelle Pancake 4&3 on Thursday afternoon in the Round of 16.

Rao was 2 over but 1 up against Pancake after losing the 395-yard, par-4 10th hole with a double bogey. She won the 11th (402 yards, par 4) with a birdie, lost the 12th (288, par 4) with a bogey, but then won the next three holes in a row, with a birdie at the par-5 13th (491), a par at the 14th (403) and a birdie at the par-3 15th (117). For the 15 holes she played, she was even par.  

The next-highest seed still alive is No. 30 Leigh Chien. Chien, who won the California state high school championship last fall as a sophomore, played the No. 14 seed, Rachel Kuehn, in the Round of 16. Kuehn has an impressive golfing resume. She's been a three-time All-American in her three years at Wake Forest, and she was the medalist at the 2021 Women's Amateur. But Chien didn't seem intimidated. She matched Kuehn's birdie on the first hole (444, par 5), won the par-3 third with a par and won the 423-yard, par-4 fifth and the 359-yard, par-4 sixth with birdies to go 3 up.

Kuehn responded in kind, winning the 414-yard, par-4 seventh and 537-yard, par-5 eighth with birdies and pulling even in the match by winning the 181-yard, par-3 ninth with a par. Eventually, it came down to the 542-yard, par-5 18th, and Chien won it with a par to claim a 1-up victory.

There were three co-medalists at this tournament. One of them was Stone. Misemer, an 18-year-old from Overland Park, Kansas, who will start her freshman year at Arizona in a couple of weeks, beat Stone 2&1 in the Round of 64. But then Misemer was dismissed by the No. 33 seed, Annabel Wilson, 4&3 in the Round of 32. Wilson won five of the first eight holes, all with birdies. Misemer won the par-3 ninth with a birdie and cut the deficit to 3 down by winning the 10th with a par, but Wilson made her sixth birdie of the day at the par-4 12th and secured the victory by halving the next three holes.

Wilson won again Thursday afternoon, in the Round of 16, beating Katie Li (No. 49) 3&2. Once again, Wilson grabbed an early lead; she was 2 under and 2 up after five holes. Li chipped away, however, and pulled even when she won the 12th with a birdie. But Wilson won the next three holes in a row, with an eagle at the 13th, a birdie at the 14th and a par at the 15th to re-establish her 3-up advantage.

There were five players who qualified for the Women's Am in early July at Victory Links in Blaine, and three of them -- Misemer, Taylor Ledwein and Julia Gregg -- made it through the stroke-play portion of the tournament, and the Round of 64.

Ledwein, the No. 28 seed, and Gregg, No. 60, are both two-time state high school champions (Ledwein in Minnesota, Gregg in Texas), and they played each other Thursday morning. Ledwein, who was even par in both of her qualifying rounds, and again for the 14 holes she needed to eliminate No. 37 Lauren Zaretsky 5&4 on Wednesday, birdied the first hole against Gregg to go 1 up. Gregg reversed that by winning the seventh with a par and the ninth with a birdie, but Ledwein regained the lead by winning the 10th and 11th holes, both with pars.

They halved the 12th hole with pars, and the match was decided by the next three holes. Gregg, a soon-to-be senior at Arkansas, won them all, going par-birdie-par. They tied the 16th and 17th, which was all Gregg needed for a 2&1 victory. 

From Chambers Bay, Ledwein will now head for Florida to prepare for LPGA Tour Q-School, although the 2020 MGA Women's Co-Player of the Year (along with Kate Smith) will probably retain her amateur status if she doesn't at least earn some status on the LPGA Tour or the Epson Tour. 

As for Gregg, she played pretty well on Thursday afternoon in the Round of 16, but she was blitzed by the No. 53 seed, Monet Chun (we can probably assume that her parents were fans of French impressionist painting). Chun was 4 under, didn't lose a hole -- even though Gregg made two birdies -- and she won the match 4&3.

And what about the other two co-medalists? They're both gone. 

No. 3 seed Laney Frye, who turned in a pair of 68s in qualifying, started her Round of 32 match against Leigh Chien with a bogey and was 2 down afer three holes. She got back to all square, however, and was still tied with Chien after 15 holes. But Chien won the 16th with a birdie and the par-3 17th with a par to get a 2&1 victory on the way to her Round of 16 encounter with Rachel Kuehn.

The No. 2 seed this week, Alice Ziyi Zhao, a 13-year-old from China, didn't make it out of the Round of 32, either. She was 3 under and 1 up after 12 holes against No. 34 Saki Baba, but Baba was 2 under from there and won four of the next five holes in a 3&1 victory. Baba, a 17-year-old from Japan who qualified for the U.S. Women's Open this year -- and tied for 49th -- went on to beat No. 50 Aneka Seumanutafa 3&1 on Thursday afternoon. She started that match with an eagle at the par-5 first hole, and by the time she finished the seventh hole, she was 5 under and 3 up. Seumanutafa had cut the deficit to 1 down by the time she arrived at the 15th tee, but Baba birdied the 15th and won the other par 3 on the back nine, the 17th, with a par to conclude the match. 

There was one other 13-year-old in the tournament, and that was Anna Fang, who is from San Diego -- and won't graduate from high school until 2027! She was a victim of Lauren Lehigh, the No. 39 seed. Lehigh, a senior to be at the University of New Mexico, opened the stroke-play portion of the tournament with a 77, but she's been as good as anyone since then. She shot 70 (3 under) on Tuesday, and was 3 under for 16 holes in her first-round victory over Kayla Smith (No. 26). She was 3 under again on Thursday morning, as she blitzed Fang 6&5.

And Lehigh still hasn't seen the 17th tee in any of her matches, because she knocked off No. 42 Mia Hammond 4&3 in the Round of 16.

She will play Baba on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals. In the same bracket, Chien will play Bailey Shoemaker (No. 54). Rao will take on Wilson in the first match of the day, but it won't start until 2:30 p.m. Chun will face Brianna Navarrosa (No. 45) at 2:40.    


U.S. Women's Amateur 

At Chambers Bay

Par 73, 6,561 yards

University Place, Wash. 

Stroke play (the top 64 advance to match play Wednesday morning)

T1. Latanna Stone                          71-65--136 (-10)

T1. Alice Ziyi Zhao                          67-69--136 

T1. Laney Frye                                68-68--136

T4. Kelsey Bennett                           69-70--139

T4. Megha Ganne                            71-68--139

T4. Amari Avery                                72-67--139

T7. Maddison Hinson-Tolchard         69-71--140

T7. Taglao Jeeravivitaporn                70-70--140

T7. Catherine Rao                             73-67--140

T7. Casey Weidenfeld                       68-72--140

T26. Taylor Ledwein                        73-73--146

T53. Julia Gregg                              74-75--149

T53. Vanessa Borovilos                   74-75--149

T61. Julia Misemer                           75-75--150 (was the last player to emerge from an 8-for-4 playoff; she went bogey/par/par)

Did not advance

Grace Curran                                     74-81--155


Match play

Round of 64

(64) Julia Misemer def. (1) Latanna Stone 2&1

(8) Catherine Rao def. (57) Izzy Pellot 1 up

(4) Kelsey Bennett def. (61) Jieni Li 3&1

(60) Julia Gregg def. (5) Megha Ganne 19 holes

(28) Taylor Ledwein def. (37) Lauren Zaretsky 5&4

(2) Alice Ziyi Zhao def. (63) Camryn Carreon 4&3

(50) Aneka Seumanutafa def. (15) Jensen Castle 1 up

(58) Anna Fang def. (7) Taglao Jeeravivitaporn 3&2

(3) Laney Frye def. (62) Jennifer Rosenberg 1 up

(59) Vanessa Borovilos def. (6) Amari Avery 1 up


Round of 32

(33) Annabel Wilson def. (64) Julia Misemer 4&3

(8) Catherine Rao def. (25) Sara Im 2&1

(4) Kelsey Bennett def. (29) Nika Ito 5&4

(45) Brianna Navarrosa def. (52) Rachel Heck 2&1

(60) Julia Gregg def. (28) Taylor Ledwein 2&1

(34) Saki Baba def. (2) Alice Ziyi Zhao 3&1

(50) Aneka Seumanutafa def. (18) Leigha Devine 3&2

(39) Lauren Lehigh def. (58) Anna Fang 6&5

(30) Leigh Chien def. (3) Laney Frye 2&1

(14) Rachel Kuehn def. (19) Brooke Seay 2 up

(6) Amari Avery def. (38) Megan Yang 6&5


Round of 16

(33) Wilson def. (49) Katie Li

(8) Catherine Rao def. (24) Annabelle Pancake 4&3

(45) Brianna Navarrosa def. (4) Kelsey Bennett 21 holes

(53) Monet Chun def. (60) Julia Gregg 4&3

(34) Saki Baba def. (50) Aneka Seumanutafa 3&1

(39) Lauren Lehigh def. (42) Mia Hammond 4&3

(30) Leigh Chien def. (14) Rachel Kuehn 1 up

(54) Bailey Shoemaker def. (6) Amari Avery 2 up