We are into the quarterfinals of the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur and defending champion Gabriela Ruffels is still alive in her quest to defend her title. Saturday brings another double-round day, meaning competitors will need to survive two more 18-hole matches to advance to Sunday’s 36-hole final.
The players remaining represent some of the best college golf programs in the country, including USC who can boast two of the eight remaining players: Ruffels and Alyaa Abdulghany. Two other competitors – Riley Smyth and Emilia Migliaccio – share Cary, N.C., as their hometown.
Golf Channel will broadcast the action at Woodmont Country Club from 1-4 p.m. EDT. Here are three things to know as the day unfolds:
Un-Ruffled
By reaching the quarterfinals, Ruffels has already mounted the strongest title defense of any player since Danielle Kang won her second of back-to-back Women’s Amateurs in 2011. Thus far, the road has not been easy at Woodmont. Ruffels has trailed through eight holes in all three of her matches, but has rallied to win a combined 14 holes against just one loss in the stretch from Holes 9 to 16. The competition only gets stiffer from here on out, however. Ruffels will look to avoid another slow start against Migliaccio, the No. 4 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, in the quarterfinals if she hopes to defend her title.
Women’s Open Hopin’
Two victories in Saturday’s quarterfinal and semifinal matches will not only mean a chance to win the Robert Cox Trophy, but will also earn the two competitors an exemption into the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Though only Catherine Lacoste (1967) has won the Women’s Open as an amateur, many others have come close, including 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Morgan Pressel and 1998 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up Jenny Chuasiriporn. By virtue of her win last year, Ruffels is already exempt into the 2020 Women’s Open, which will be played Dec. 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston.
Swann Song
Kennedy Swann’s road to the quarterfinals has been a long one – a very long one. While Swann herself flew to Woodmont from Oregon, her family drove their RV more than 2,000 miles from Austin, Texas through the Blue Ridge Mountains to Maryland last week. The entire Swann family, including Kennedy, is staying in an RV park in Gaithersburg, Md., this week. “My mom doesn't like to fly, so they drive everywhere,” said Swann, who was also a P.J. Boatwright Intern in 2018. “Having an RV doesn't make it too bad.”
Mike Trostel is the executive producer of content for the USGA. Email him at mtrostel@usga.org.
