Historic medal double for Li
Redwood City’s Lucy Li made more history Tuesday as she tied for low medalist honors at the U.S. Women’s Amateur in Tennessee.
Li, 15, and South Korea’s Hyun Selin, 17, each completed two rounds of stroke play at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs in a tournament-record-tying 133 (9-under).
Li’s 65 — the low round of the tournament — made her only the third player in history to be the low medalist in the Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Girls Junior in the same year. The only other players to have similar doubles were Michiko Hattori (1986) and Vicki Goetze (1990).
“Yeah, it definitely gives me a lot of confidence,” Li said. “I've been playing really well recently, and I think it just keeps the momentum going.”
Li — the youngest person to ever play in the Women’s Amateur (10 years old) and the U.S. Women’s Open (11) — opened with a 68. Selin, who went 67-66, played her first 12 holes Tuesday in 1-under before closing with birdies on four of the final six.
A nine-player playoff will be held Wednesday morning to determine the final spot in the match play round of 64. The tournament concludes with Sunday’s 36-hole championship match. The cut was 3-over. Two Bay Area players will join Li in match play. Danville’s Ty Akabane had an even-par 71 to remain at 2-under and Concord’s Yealimi Noh, 17, was two shots behind Akabane after a 72.
Noh entered the tournament on a roll, having won the Girls Amateur at Poppy Hills two weeks ago and the Girls Junior PGA in Kentucky on July 12.
Stanford’s Albane Valenzuela (+1) reached match play despite a second-round 75.
San Jose’s Sabrina Iqbal is headed home after a secondround 75 pushed her to 5-over and San Mateo’s Ashely Shim also failed to advance after a 76 that left her at 7-over.
The most prominent name to miss the cut was world No. 1 amateur Lilia Vu of Fountain Valley (Orange County), who followed an opening-round 71 with a 78.