Alvarez makes her move in US Amateur
Six birdies, including a chip-in and a 40-foot putt, vaulted New Zealand golfer Julianne Alvarez to a lofty second place after 36 holes of the US Women’s Amateur in San Diego.
The country’s third-ranked woman amateur, from Wellington, Alvarez fired a second round of four-under 68 to be ranked second in the 156-strong field heading into the top-64 matchplay starting today.
The 21-year-old was five-under after 36 holes, four shots behind Frenchwoman Shannon Aubert who carded a second round of 66 at the San Diego Country Club. Americans Haley Moore and Stephanie Lau were a shot further back in equal third.
In her second year of a scholarship at the University of Washington, Alvarez continued her outstanding form in the US which saw her win last month’s Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur. She chipped in for birdie on the 38th matchplay hole of the final to seal the title.
Yesterday, Alvarez, sitting 10th after her first round of 71, had the second-lowest round of the day with six birdies and two bogeys after starting on the back nine.
’’My first birdie of the day, I didn’t actually use my putter, I chipped in on [hole] 15,’’ said Alvarez, who helped the University of Washington Huskies win the 2016 NCAA title.
‘‘And then on 16, I drained a 40-footer, so I was like, well, this is going to be a good day. And I continued that rhythm on the [outward] nine and holed some pretty good downhill sliders, which can be pretty tough on this golf course, I think, on seven. Yeah, so those ones stood out.’’
In the matchplay round of 64, New Zealand’s 2015 women’s amateur champion Alvarez will face one of five opponents who had to return to the course at 7am (local time) to play off for the final four spots.
In a stellar field, those to miss the cut included 2015 US Women’s Amateur champion Hannah O’Sullivan, 2015 US Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Lauren Greenlief, and 2016 Ladies British Open Amateur champion Julia Engstrom, of Sweden.
❚ Golf is a game of inches as Ryan Fox found to his cost at the PGA Championship’s long drive contest on Tuesday (NZ time).
The Kiwi golfer hit an impressive drive of 330 yards on Quail Hollow’s 10th hole but it trickled off the fairway into the rough, ruling him out of the competition.
It cost him a US$25,000 donation to the charity of his choice and the glory of topping the world’s best golfers in the annual competition ahead of the PGA Championship. Fox’s blast was particularly impressive as wet conditions have made the course softer.
American Jason Kokrak took top spot with his 321-yard drive, well down on previous years.
Tyrrell Hatton took second place at 316 yards while close behind was world No 1 Dustin Johnson with 315 yards.
Fox is one of two New Zealanders in the field along with Danny Lee.
Fox, who tees off at 6.20am on Friday (NZT) will play the first two rounds with American JJ Wood and Chinese star Hao Tong Li.
Lee has been grouped with Anirban Lahiri, of India, and Australian Marc Leishman and will tee off at 5.20am (NZT).