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This runner-up stuff is getting old for Jillian Bourdage.
Bourdage (above right), a freshman at Ohio State, had to settle for her third runner-up medal in a USGA event when she and playing partner Casey Weidenfeld (above left) lost in the final of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. The side also finished second in 2019. And Bourdage also was runner-up at the 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior, losing to Lei Ye in the final, 2 and 1.
“Obviously it’s not the best feeling in the world, but that’s just what comes along with the game of golf,” Bourdage said. “I was trying to take each shot one at a time and keep my head in the game for as long as I could. … Nonetheless I was really proud of how I played this week.”
Gianna Clemente of Warren, Ohio, at 13 the youngest player in the field, had a hole-in-one during the second day of stroke play. She pured a 7-iron into the cup on the par-3 14th hole at Maridoe Golf Club for her second career ace, and the shot helped lift Clemente and 14-year-old partner Avery Zweig of McKinney, Texas, into a three-way tie for medalists.
“I didn’t think that it was going to go in because the greens are so firm, but it was on the pin the whole way,” Zweig said. “Obviously it was a great addition to our round and helped us gain momentum to finish strong.”
It was the third hole-in-one in the event’s history and first since Meghan Stasi made one in 2018.
Clemente and Zweig, who was playing in her fifth USGA event, reached the semifinals before losing in 20 holes.
Two sets of sisters qualified for match play: Jasmine and Janae Leovao of Oceanside, California, and Fernanda and Maria Jose Martinez of Vera Cruz, Mexico.
The Leovaos earned the 16th seed, but were eliminated in the opening round in 19 holes by Melena Marrientos and Rylie Heflin.
The Martinez sisters shot 64, tied for Sunday’s low round, and earned the No. 21 seed. They were eliminated in the first round, 3 and 2, by Anna Davis and Lucy Yuan.
Katherine Muzi of Newport Beach, California, decided to fly solo when her partner was unable to compete and nearly made the cut. Muzi shot 77-73 on her own ball and missed reaching match play by just two shots. Muzi had three double-bogeys across the two days, moments when a partner may have come in handy.
Crystal Wang of Diamond Bar, California, who plays at the University of Illinois, had to bail out to compete in the Big 10 Championship. Muzi, a junior at Southern Cal, did not make the team for the Pac-10 Championship.
Stan Awtrey