With 36 holes of stroke play and a 15-for-6 playoff in the books, the focus at the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship turns to match play. Stroke-play medalist Rachel Heck paced the field with a 4-under 140 total, but plenty of contenders have their sights set on the Robert Cox Trophy, including 2019 U.S. Women’s Open low amateur Gina Kim, defending champion Gabriela Ruffels, and Emilia Migliaccio, the No. 4 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Woodmont Country Club absorbed another half-inch of rain on Wednesday night, bringing the week-long total above three inches and making conditions soft for the players in the Round of 64. Thursday will be the last day of single rounds as Friday and Saturday will feature two rounds each, setting the stage for Sunday’s 36-hole championship match.

Here are three things to know going into match play:

Lucky Number 6

For the second consecutive year, Ruffels is the No. 6 seed in the Women’s Amateur match-play bracket. The defending champion dropped shots on two of her first three holes in Round 2, but rallied with three birdies against no bogeys the rest of the way to post 1-under 141 in stroke play. Last year, Ruffels didn’t get extended past the 15th hole in any of her first three matches. Today she will face the No. 59 seed Kajal Mistry, who rebounded from an opening 81 with a 3-under 69 in Round 2. Mistry punched her ticket in match play with a birdie on the first playoff hole (Woodmont’s eighth).

Medalist Musings

Heck led the way in qualifying, but recent history has shown that success in stroke play has not always carried over to match play. The No. 1 seed has lost 10 times in the Round of 64 since the current format began in 1985, but upsets have been more prevalent of late. The top seed has lost in four of the last six years and six of the last 11, including last year when Emily Hawkins dispatched Jiarui Jin, 4 and 3, at Old Waverly. The good news for Heck? Medalists have won the championship 20 times in its history, more than any other seed. The last top seed to win was Amanda Blumenherst in 2008.

Cardinal Rules

Stanford University women’s golf coach Anne Walker will be busy on Wednesday following four Cardinal players who advanced to match play, which is tied with USC for most among colleges. One match Dobashi will have her eye on is the third-to-last match at 2:40 p.m. EDT, which pits Stanford sophomore and reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Lei Ye against 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinalist Megha Ganne, who has committed to attend Stanford starting in 2022. The three other Cardinal golfers in action on Wednesday are Heck, Sadie Englemann (No. 22) and Aline Krauter (No. 42), while Rose Zhang (No. 16) will enroll at “The Farm” in 2021.

Mike Trostel is the executive producer of content for the USGA. Email him at mtrostel@usga.org.