Gillman, one tough Texan, claims U.S. Women's Amateur title for a second time

   Kristen Gillman’s second U.S. Women’s Amateur victory took on an air of inevitability as she stormed to a 5-up advantage at the 18-hole break of the scheduled 36-hole final against her soon-to-be Alabama teammate Jiwon Jeon.

   For a player to lose a lead like that in match play, she has to suffer a little bit of a collapse and that simply wasn’t going to happen to the amazingly consistent and steady Gillman. The Alabama junior out of Austin, Texas did indeed finish off her South Korean rival, claiming a 7 and 6 victory Sunday at The Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs, Tenn.

   Gillman, No. 6, and probably rising, in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), came out firing, burying her talented rival under an avalanche of early birdies and solid play. Gillman actually owned a 7-up lead after 16 holes before Jeon rallied to take the last two holes of the opening 18 to cut her deficit to 5-down.

   It was Gillman’s talent that was on display during that devastating early burst, but it was her grit that got her to the final. She is very much in the mold of the tough Texans who are such a big part of golf lore in this country.

   When she absolutely had to make a putt to send her quarterfinal match with 15-year-old phenom Lucy Li to extra holes, Gillman buried the 10-foot birdie try. When she absolutely had to make a putt to send her semifinal match with Arkansas senior Kaylee Benton to extra holes, Gillman buried the 20-footer for bogey.

   Gillman was reminded everywhere she went, including her smiling face on one of the banners of past champions that lined the driveway into The Golf of Tennessee, that she was the only U.S. Women’s Amateur champion in the field.

   Gillman won it in her first U.S. Women’s Amateur appearance as a 16-year-old at Nassau Country Club in 2014. Her span between championships is the longest since Dorothy Campbell Hurd won in 1924, 14 years after her 1910 victory. The world and women’s amateur golf have changed a lot since then.

   For many players, the U.S. Women’s Amateur is just a stepping stone on the way to the LPGA Tour. And the 20-year-old Gillman is likely headed there, too. But after winning in 2014, she showed up every year, made it into the match-play bracket every year and this year, on top of her game, won it again.

   “I think this one was a lot harder to win because after the first one I won, it was my first time playing (in the U.S. Women’s Amateur) and so I was kind of new to it,” Gillman told the USGA website. “But every time I come back now, I’ve always talked about how – like this year, I was the only champion in the field -- it kind of brings a little bit more pressure along with it. But I think it also makes the victory a little sweeter, too.”

   It was the 21-year-old Jeon’s first appearance in the U.S. Women’s Amateur and she doesn’t have a whole lot of match-play experience. She won eight times in two years at junior college powerhouse Daytona State College and will join an Alabama team that includes Gillman and Lauren Stephenson, whom Jeon defeated into a 23-hole thriller in Saturday’s other semifinal, in a few weeks.

   Jeon is No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR and is very talented. And she displayed the kind of clutch gene that Gillman clearly possesses when she buried a tough 15-footer for birdie that she absolutely had to have to send her match with Stephenson to extra holes.

   But Jeon had no answers for Gillman on this day. Gillman took control of the match when she won the fourth hole with a par and then five, six and seven with consecutive birdies. When she won the ninth with a par, she was 5-up.

   Jeon won the 10^th with a birdie, but Gillman won the 11^th with a par and then built her advantage to 7-up with back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14.

   Even in the late stages of the match, Gillman’s talent and determination were on display. When Jeon won the 23^rd hole with a par, Gillman won the 24^th with a birdie. When Jeon won the 25^th hole with a birdie, Gillman won the 26^th with a birdie. When Jeon won the 27^th with a birdie, Gillman won the 28^th with a birdie.

   Two holes later it was over. Gillman had registered nine birdies in 30 holes to make sure that her name would be inscribed on the Robert Cox Trophy, arguably the prettiest trophy in sports, for a second time. She is the first two-time winner since Danielle Kang went back-to-back in 2010 and 2011.

   Gillman has been playing at the highest level of amateur golf for months.

   In May, Gillman, Stephenson and Cheyenne Knight led the Crimson Tide to the brink of a national title before they fell to Arizona in the Final Match in the NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.

   In June, Gillman posted a 5-0-0 record as she and a powerful U.S. team that included her Alabama teammate Stephenson and Lucy Li, rolled to a 17-3 victory over Great Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup Match at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.

   In July, Gillman went 3-1 as part of another resounding U.S. win in the Arnold Palmer Cup matches in France.

   And Sunday, Gillman capped that remarkable run by rolling to a second U.S. Women’s Amateur title. At the next level, consistency and determination are always rewarded. That’s why this tough Texan will succeed there, too.