Patty Tavatanakit (USGA photo)
SHOAL CREEK, AL (June 3, 2018) - Patty Tavatanakit, the UCLA rising sophomore from Thailand, shot a final-round 1-under 71 to finish the U.S. Women's Open in a tie for fifth place. Tavatanakit wins the gold medal as the low amateur of the 29 who started the tournament.
It was the second consecutive year an amateur has finished inside the top 5 at the U.S. Women's Open. Last year, Hye-Jin Choi of Korea held the lead through 63 holes and was the runner-up.
With the tournament leaders so far ahead, no amateur would have a chance to win this year, but the race for low amateur was tight heading into the final round. Tavatanakit started the day one shot ahead of Albane Valenzuela (Switzerland) and two ahead of Elizabeth Wang (San Marino, CA) after three rounds.
While the other six amateurs to make the cut would shoot over par on Sunday, Tavatanakit started well, going three under for her first six holes. She did make four bogeys coming in, but two more birdies would give her a red number and lock up the gold medal. Her 72-hole score was 2-under 286.
Valenzuela was also under par at the turn, but came back in 40 to shoot 75 and finish 24th at 3-over 291.
Amateur Leaderboard
T5 | Patty Tavatanakit | 70 | 73 | 72 | 71 | 286 |
24 | Albane Valenzuela | 72 | 73 | 71 | 75 | 291 |
T27 | Kristen Gillman | 70 | 74 | 75 | 74 | 293 |
T34 | Elizabeth Wang | 72 | 74 | 71 | 77 | 294 |
T55 | Hailee Cooper | 72 | 76 | 77 | 74 | 299 |
T55 | Lucy Li | 72 | 74 | 77 | 76 | 299 |
T57 | Linn Grant | 69 | 72 | 78 | 81 | 300 |
|
MC | Allisen Corpuz | 76 | 73 | | 149 |
MC | Dylan Kim | 74 | 75 | | 149 |
MC | Lei Ye | 75 | 74 | | 149 |
MC | Robyn Choi | 75 | 75 | | 150 |
MC | Gina Kim | 72 | 79 | | 151 |
MC | Celia Barquin Arozamena | 76 | 75 | | 151 |
MC | Evelyn Arguelles | 80 | 72 | | 152 |
MC | Yujeong Son | 74 | 78 | | 152 |
MC | Emilia Migliaccio | 77 | 76 | | 153 |
MC | Olivia Mehaffey | 76 | 77 | | 153 |
MC | Erica Shepherd | 82 | 71 | | 153 |
MC | Maria Fassi | 76 | 77 | | 153 |
MC | Dana Williams | 74 | 80 | | 154 |
MC | Sophie Hausmann | 78 | 76 | | 154 |
MC | Kaylee Benton | 74 | 80 | | 154 |
MC | Olivia Cason | 76 | 79 | | 155 |
MC | Andrea Lee | 82 | 75 | | 157 |
MC | Gaeun Song | 76 | 82 | | 158 |
MC | Kelsey Chugg | 83 | 76 | | 159 |
MC | Jennifer Chang | 81 | 79 | | 160 |
MC | Celeste Dao | 83 | 80 | | 163 |
MC | Sophia Schubert | 85 | 79 | | 164 |
ROUND ONE RECAP
Seven amateurs have made the cut at the U.S. Women's Open Championship at Shoal Creek, led by Patty Tavatanakit of UCLA and Thailand, who is the only amateur under par and the only one inside the top 10 through three rounds.
Storms delayed play on Friday, forcing players to come back out early to finish their second rounds Saturday, after which the cut was made and the field was re-paired for round three.
Linn Grant, the 18-year-old from Sweden, was 3 under through two rounds and found herself in the second-to-last group for the third round, playing with Chella Choi and Jenny Shin. But Grant tumbled down the leaderboard with three 6's in her first six holes.
Tavatanakit, who just finished her freshman year at UCLA, won three times for the Bruins including the Pac 12 Women's Championship and the NCAA West Regional. She got to 2 under after round one and is currently 1 under after a 72 in round three.
Albane Valenzuela, the Swiss amateur whose runner-up finish in last year's U.S. Women's Amateur earned her a place in the field, shot a 1-under 71 to get her to even par and just one shot behind Tavatanakit in the low amateur race.
Elizabeth Wang, an 18-year-old committed to Harvard University, is two behind Tavatanakit after a third-round 71.
Amateur Leaderboard
T9 | Patty Tavatanakit | 70 | 73 | 72 | 215 |
T15 | Albane Valenzuela | 72 | 73 | 71 | 216 |
T23 | Elizabeth Wang | 72 | 74 | 71 | 217 |
T30 | Kristen Gillman | 70 | 74 | 75 | 219 |
T30 | Linn Grant | 69 | 72 | 78 | 219 |
T48 | Lucy Li | 72 | 74 | 77 | 223 |
61 | Hailee Cooper | 72 | 76 | 77 | 225 |
|
MC | Allisen Corpuz | 76 | 73 | | 149 |
MC | Dylan Kim | 74 | 75 | | 149 |
MC | Lei Ye | 75 | 74 | | 149 |
MC | Robyn Choi | 75 | 75 | | 150 |
MC | Gina Kim | 72 | 79 | | 151 |
MC | Celia Barquin Arozamena | 76 | 75 | | 151 |
MC | Evelyn Arguelles | 80 | 72 | | 152 |
MC | Yujeong Son | 74 | 78 | | 152 |
MC | Emilia Migliaccio | 77 | 76 | | 153 |
MC | Olivia Mehaffey | 76 | 77 | | 153 |
MC | Erica Shepherd | 82 | 71 | | 153 |
MC | Maria Fassi | 76 | 77 | | 153 |
MC | Dana Williams | 74 | 80 | | 154 |
MC | Sophie Hausmann | 78 | 76 | | 154 |
MC | Kaylee Benton | 74 | 80 | | 154 |
MC | Olivia Cason | 76 | 79 | | 155 |
MC | Andrea Lee | 82 | 75 | | 157 |
MC | Gaeun Song | 76 | 82 | | 158 |
MC | Kelsey Chugg | 83 | 76 | | 159 |
MC | Jennifer Chang | 81 | 79 | | 160 |
MC | Celeste Dao | 83 | 80 | | 163 |
MC | Sophia Schubert | 85 | 79 | | 164 |
ROUND ONE RECAP
Three amateurs are high up on the leaderboard after the first round of the U.S. Women's Open Championship at Shoal Creek.
Linn Grant, an 18-year-old from Sweden, shot a 3-under 69 and is tied for fourth, just two shots behind the first-round leaders Ariya Jutanugarn, Sarah Jane Smith, and Jeongeun6 Lee.
Grant was the winner of the only Women's Open qualifier held in England, and also won last year's Ladies British Stroke Play and Scottish Ladies Open Amateur.
Patty Tavatanakit of UCLA and Thailand shot a 70 and is in a seventh place tie with Kristen Gillman (Austin, TX) of the University of Alabama.
Related: Tee Times for the 29(!) Amateurs in the U.S. Women's Open
A total of 29 amateurs have made the field this year, up from 21 last year. Hye-Jin Choi of Korea, who has since turned pro and is in the field at Shoal Creek, nearly became the first amateur since 1967 to win the U.S. Women's Open, leading on the back nine on Sunday before ultimately finishing second.
Round 1 Amateur Leaderboard
T4 | Linn Grant | -3 | 69 |
T7 | Patty Tavatanakit | -2 | 70 |
T7 | Kristen Gillman | -2 | 70 |
T25 | Elizabeth Wang | E | 72 |
T25 | Albane Valenzuela | E | 72 |
T25 | Hailee Cooper | E | 72 |
T25 | Lucy Li | E | 72 |
T25 | Gina Kim | E | 72 |
T56 | Yujeong Son | +2 | 74 |
T56 | Kaylee Benton | +2 | 74 |
T56 | Dylan Kim | +2 | 74 |
T56 | Dana Williams | +2 | 74 |
T74 | Lei Ye | +3 | 75 |
T74 | Robyn Choi | +3 | 75 |
T96 | Celia Barquin Arozamena | +4 | 76 |
T96 | Maria Fassi | +4 | 76 |
T96 | Allisen Corpuz | +4 | 76 |
T96 | Olivia Mehaffey | +4 | 76 |
T96 | Gaeun Song | +4 | 76 |
T96 | Olivia Cason | +4 | 76 |
T121 | Emilia Migliaccio | +5 | 77 |
T134 | Sophie Hausmann | +6 | 78 |
T143 | Evelyn Arguelles | +8 | 80 |
T146 | Jennifer Chang | +9 | 81 |
T148 | Erica Shepherd | +10 | 82 |
T148 | Andrea Lee | +10 | 82 |
T151 | Kelsey Chugg | +11 | 83 |
T151 | Celeste Dao | +11 | 83 |
156 | Sophia Schubert | +13 | 85 |
ABOUT THE
U.S. Women's Open
The U.S. Women's Open has the biggest payout in women's golf. It is one of 15 annual
championships conducted by the USGA. The
event is open to any professional or amateur female golfer. There is a handicap limit for amateurs; for the 2024 event it was 4.4; please see USGA website for the current limit and entry requirements.
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