It’s been a little more than two months since Rose Zhang, the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), was stunned by Elle Nachmann in the opening round of match play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y.
The loss only seems to have fired up the native of Irvine, Calif. Ever since, a pattern has emerged: Rose Zhang wins and Rose Zhang’s team wins.
It happened again over the weekend in The Spirit International, a gathering of college standouts from 30 countries that concluded Saturday at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas.
Zhang was the individual winner on the women’s side with a sparkling 10-under 206 total that was three shots clear of the rest of the field. Zhang teamed with her Stanford teammate Rachel Heck, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., to give the United States a seven-shot victory over Switzerland in the women’s team competition with a closing 6-under-par 136 surge giving the Red, White & Blue a 12-under 420 total.
The event also recognizes an overall winner in the combined women’s and men’s competitions and, of course, Zhang’s Team USA was a 21-shot winner over runnerup Canada. The U.S. men’s team of Sam Bennett, a senior at Texas A&M and the individual men’s winner, and James Piot, a fifth-year player at Michigan State and the winner of the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club in August, settled for a runnerup finish in the men’s competition, just a shot behind Sweden with a 2-under 430 total.
A few weeks after her loss at Westchester, Zhang delivered a point-and-a-half on the opening day of the Curtis Cup Match at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales as the United States fell behind a talented Great Britain & Ireland team, 4.5-1.5. Zhang went 3-0 in the final two days as the U.S. came on strong, rallying for a 12.5-7.5 victory.
In a post last week, I chronicled Stanford completing a perfect run of four team titles in four fall tournaments with a victory in the Nanea Pac-12 Preview and that win came without Zhang and Heck. In the first three wins, though, Zhang was the individual winner and Stanford was the team champion at The Molly Collegiate Invitational, at the Windy City Collegiate Classic and at the Stanford Intercollegiate.
Zhang got off to a solid start in The Spirit with a 3-under 69 over a Whispering Pines layout that measured 6,443 yards and played to a par of 72 for the women. Heck, who was Zhang’s teammate on the winning U.S. team in the Curtis Cup in Wales, struggled in the opening round with a 78.
But Zhang added a 4-under 68 in Friday’s second round and Heck, No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, knocked nine shots off that slow start with a 3-under 69 as the U.S. surged into a tie for the top spot with Switzerland and France at 4-under 284 going into Saturday’s final round.
Zhang’s closing 69 along with Heck’s 5-under 67, the best round of the day, gave the U.S. the best team round of the week, an 8-under 136, as it pulled away for a seven-shot victory over Switzerland. Heck’s final-round 67 gave her a 2-under 214 total that left her in a tie for fifth place in the individual standings with her Stanford teammate, Caroline Sturdza of Switzerland and No. 50 in the Women’s WAGR at 2-under 214.
The Swiss had taken the lead with an opening round of 2-under 142 as Sturdza, a freshman at Stanford, carded a 2-under 70 and Chiara Tamburlini, a member of the Mississippi team that captured the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. last spring, matched par with a 72.
Sturdza added another 2-undere 70 and Tamburlini, a junior at Ole Miss, again matched par as Switzerland added another 2-under 142 in Friday’s second round. Tamburlini closed with her best round of the week, a 3-under 69, but Sturdza fell back with a 2-over 74 as the Swiss finished up with a 1-under 243 to earn runnerup honors, seven shots behind the U.S. with a 5-under 427 total.
Tamburlini’s 3-under 213 total left her alone in fourth place in the individual standings.
France added a 3-under 141 in Friday’s second round to its opening round of 1-under 143 to get its share of the lead going into the final round, but the French cooled off with a 5-over 149 in Saturday’s final round to end up in third place with a 1-over 433 total.
France was led by Texas A&M freshman Adela Cernousek, who posted a 2-under 70 in Friday’s second round after matching par in the opening round with a 72 before closing with a 2-over 74 that left her alone in eighth place in the individual standings with an even-par 216 total.
Sweden sandwiched a 2-over 146 in Friday’s second round with a pair of even-par 144s to finish a shot behind France in fourth place with a 2-over 434 total.
Leading the way for the Swedes was another member of Ole Miss’ national championship team, junior Andrea Lignell, who added a 74 in Friday’s second round to her opening-round 71 and closed with a 2-under 70 to finish alone in seventh place in the individual standings with a 1-under 215 that left her two shots behind the Stanford pair of Heck and Sturdza. Lignell went 3-0 in match play in the Rebels’ stunning run to the NCAA crown at Grayhawk, including a critical victory on the 22nd hole in the quarterfinals over Texas’ Katelyn Papp, who has since turned pro.
Mexico was six shots behind Sweden in fifth place with an 8-over 440 total as it bounced back from an opening-round 152 by matching par in each of the final two rounds with a pair of 144s.
Mexico was led by Oklahoma State junior Isabella Fierro, the runnerup in the individual standings to Zhang with a 7-under 209 total. After opening with a 73, Fierro, who is No. 48 in the Women’s WAGR, fired a 5-under 67 in Friday’s second round and closed with a 3-under 69.
Fierro helped the Cowgirls reach the Final Match in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk, where they fell to Ole Miss. Fierro won two matches in Oklahoma State’s run to the team crown in last month’s East Lake Cup at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Canada’s Savannah Grewal, a sophomore at Clemson, sandwiched a 3-under 69 in Friday’s second round with a pair of 1-under 71s to finish in third place in the individual standings, two shots behind Fierro with a 5-under 211 total.
By the way, if you want to see the future of women’s golf and you live in the Philadelphia area, you might get a chance to see Zhang and Heck represent the United States in next spring’s Curtis Cup Match, which tees off June 10th at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course.
Pretty sure they’ll let you in for free, so if you find a place to park or hitch a ride on the Norristown High Speed Line – we used to call it the P&W way back in the day – you can roam the course where Jones and Hogan and Nicklaus and Trevino and David Graham and Justin Rose made all kinds of history and watch the future of the women’s game at the same time.
Zhang has already secured a spot on captain Sarah Ingram’s U.S. team by winning the 2021 Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No.-1 ranked player in the Women’s WAGR. One other automatic spot on the team has been awarded to Kentucky junior Jensen Castle for her victory in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. It is 213 days until the 2022 Curtis Cup Match tees off at Merion and yes, I’m counting the days.
To the great relief of Rachel Heck, Bennett, a senior at Texas A&M and the No. 6 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) captured the individual title on the men’s side of The Spirit International as he closed with a 3-under 69 over a Whispering Pines layout that measured 7,485 yards and played to a par of 72 for the guys.
Bennett overcame a two-shot penalty on the first hole, incurred because he had an extra club in his bag. Turrns out it was Heck’s wedge. She left it laying on Bennett’s bag while she applied some face paint – hey, they don’t call it The Spirit for nothing – and the offending club somehow ended up in Bennett’s bag.
It might have cost the U.S. the men’s team title as the Red, White & Blue finished a shot behind Sweden with its 2-under 430 total. But the U.S. won just about every other title that was up for grabs, so just file it under lesson learned.
Bennett of Madisonville, Texas rebounded from an opening-round 73 with a 4-under 68 in Friday’s second round before closing with his final-round 69 for a 6-under 210 total. He entered the final round three shots behind Canada’s Johnny Travale, a senior at Central Florida, and England’s Joseph Pagdin, a sophomore at Florida, both of whom were at 6-under 138 through two rounds.
The individual runnerup, Boise State senior Hugo Townsend, led the way for the winning Swedish team. Townsend, No. 53 in the WAGR, bounced back from an opening-round 73 with a 2-under 70 in Friday’s second round before finishing up with a 3-under 69 that left him two shots behind Bennett with a 4-under 212 total.
Townsend teamed with University of South Florida junior Albin Bergstrom to lift Sweden to the team title among the guys. The Swedes opened with a 1-over 145 and added a 3-under 141 before closing with a 1-under 154 for a 3-under 429 total.
Bergstrom, No. 74 in the WAGR, matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-under 71 in Friday’s second round before finishing up with a 74 as he ended up alone in eighth place in the individual standings with a 1-over 217 total.
The U.S. opened with a solid 3-under 141 behind a sparkling 3-under 68 by Michigan State’s Piot, No. 61 in the WAGR from Canton, Mich. The Red, White & Blue backed off with a 1-over 145 in Friday’s second round before matching par in Saturday’s final round with a 144 to come up just short of the top spot.
Piot struggled in Friday’s second round with a 77 before closing with a 75 that left him in a tie for 12th place with a 4-over 220 total.
Behind Travale’s third-place individual finish, Canada took third place in the team standings, a shot behind the United States with a 1-under 431 total. Canada grabbed the lead by matching the best team round of the week, a 7-under 137, in the opening round and was still in command after adding a 1-under 143 in Friday’s second round, but struggled in the final round with a 151.
Travale had a share of the individual lead heading into Saturday’s final round after opening with the best individual round of the tournament, a 5-under 67, in the opening round and adding a 1-under 71 in Friday’s second round. But he cooled off in the final round with a 75 that left him a shot behind Sweden’s Townsend with a 2-under 214 total.
Washington senior Henry Lee was the other half of Team Canada and he matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a solid 2-under 70, but he, too, struggled in the final round with a 76 that left him in the group tied for ninth place in the individual standings with a 2-over 218 total.
Argentina finished four shots behind Canada in fourth place as it added a 147 to its opening round of 148 before closing with a solid 4-under 140 for a 3-over 435 total.
Argentina was led by Arkansas senior Segundo Oliva Pinto, who closed with a 3-under 69 to finish among a group of four players tied for fourth place at 2-under 214 total. Oliva Pinto, winner of the Southeastern Conference individual crown last spring at the Sea Island Club’s Seaside Course in St. Simons Island, Ga., had opened with a 73 before matching par in Friday’s second round with a 72.
Oliva Pinto was the player who quite famously saw his U.S. Amateur bid in 2020 at Bandon Dunes halted in the round of 16 when he fell to eventual winner Tyler Strafaci by losing the 18th hole when he was penalized because his caddy tested the sand in a greenside bunker.
South Africa was a shot behind Argentina in fifth place in the team standings with a 4-over 436 total after matching the best team round of the week with a 7-under 137 in Saturday’s final round. South Africa had opened with a 149 before adding a 150 in Friday’s second round.
South Africa was led by Georgia Tech sophomore Christo Lamprecht, who joined Oliva Pinto in the foursome tied for fourth place at 214. Lamprecht struggled to a 75 in Friday’s second round after opening with a 71, but he finished strong with a 4-under 68 in the final round.
Rounding out the quartet at 2-under were England’s Pagdin and France’s Bastien Amat, a sophomore at New Mexico.
Pagdin had a share of the individual lead heading into Saturday’s final round after posting back-to-back 3-under 69s in the first two rounds before backing off with a final-round 76. Amat matched par in the final round with a 72 after registering back-to-back 71s in the first two rounds.
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