Ye thwarts Bourdage, claims US Girls’ crown

Lei Ye watched Jillian Bourdage flub a five-foot birdie putt on the 36th hole to escape with a 1-up victory and become the new US Girls’ Junior champion at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wisconsin Saturday.

Ye went 3-up after the first half of their marathon 36-hole duel but needed to produce a pair of birdies on Nos. 33 and 35 to hang on to a 1-up lead as Bourdage kept fighting back with her clutch shots and putts. But the Florida ace missed the putt that mattered most, enabling the seventh-ranked incoming Stanford U freshman to clinch the victory and become only the second Chinese to win a USGA championship.

“This tournament is the ultimate achievement of junior golf, so yeah, it’s a perfect ending,” said Ye, who joined 2014 US Women’s Amateur Public Links winner Alice Jo as the only players from China to claim a USGA crown.

Bourdage, who foiled top seed Yuka Saso in the semifinals, forced an all-square match thrice in the afternoon, the last on the par-3 16th with a par. And after Ye birdied the next to regain the lead, she came away with a solid 8-iron approach shot from 130 yards to within five feet on the 18th.

In contrast, Ye’s second shot went to the back of the green but made a brilliant downhill putt from 50 feet to within tap-in range for par.

Bourdage stroked what she thought was a perfect putt but the ball trailed off to the left as it approached the cup, sending Bourdage to her knees in disbelief and Ye in jubilation.

The Chinese then drained a three-footer for par to secure the victory and join the elite circle of winners in the annual event for players 19-years-old and below, who included Princess Superal, who reigned in 2014 in Arizona.

“I think I just under-read it,” rued Bourdage. “But I felt really good when I walked over the ball and my aim looked great from where I stood. I gave it my best shot but that’s golf, sometimes they don’t all drop.”