Jerman, Wongluekiet Tie For Low Amateur
By Alex Miceli
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| Aree Wongluekiet and Angela Jerman receiving
their gold medals. (Pam Murphy/USGA) |
HUTCHINSON, Kan. -- Low amateurs at the U.S. Women's Open have
seldom won the title. The lone exception to that is Catherine
Lacoste, who won in 1967.
Before and after 1967, a number of amateurs
have come close -- Sally Sessions and Polly Riley in 1947, Betsy Rawls in 1950,
Barbara McIntire in 1956, Nancy Lopez in 1975 and Jenny Chuasiriporn in 1998.
But none ever won.
In the 57th U.S. Women¹s Open at Prairie Dunes
Golf Club, two out of 14 amateurs made the cut -- Angela Jerman of the United
States and Aree Song Wongluekiet, from Korea. Neither player was ever in the
hunt for the championship, but both played well enough to tie for 51st and low
amateur.
"It would mean a lot, all the best amateurs
were here this week," said the 16-year-old Wongluekiet of tying for the
low amateur. "My best nines were probably the last nine yesterday and the
nine this morning. I felt really comfortable over the shots."
Wongluekiet shot a 1-under-par 69 on that combination
of the third round back nine and the final round front nine. Her scores for
the championship were 71-76-74-73 294, 14 over par.
Jerman, 22, is older than her fellow amateur
Wongluekiet, preparing to complete her final semester at the University of Georgia.
She is looking toward the Curtis Cup and Women¹s Amateur before she tries the
LPGA Tour Q-School, and a life in professional golf.
"After I made the cut, that was definitely
one of my goals to be low amateur," said Jerman after shooting 74 in the
final round. "I can¹t control what anybody else did. Today I played pretty
good, I had a couple of shots on the back nine get away from me, but overall
I feel good about my game."
Jerman was in the dark as she played the last
couple of holes. She believed she needed to birdie the 17th or 18th hole to
have a chance at tying Wongluekiet. It was only when she reached the scorers
tent did she learn that she was tied with Wongluekiet.
"I was trying to chip it in," said
Jerman of her shot on the 18th green for birdie. "Unfortunately I didn’t
get it as crisp a chip as I wanted to."
Always learning, Jerman will take what she
gained at this year’s Open and use it in her golfing endeavors in the future.
"Confidence," said Jerman. "I
had a good year in college, that really helped out knowing that I played with
some of the girls out here on Tour. I keep track, I know this is what I want
to do for a living."
Meg Mallon, the 1991 U.S. Women¹s Open champion,
played with Jerman in the third round and Wongluekiet on the final day.
"Angela is a very solid player,"
said Mallon. "I really liked her game a lot. She¹s smart, she¹s going to
do really well out here I think, because I think she’s got all the factors to
play. So she’s a good kid, got a good family to."
On Wongluekeit, Mallon focuses on her youth
when describing the 16-year-old prodigy.
"There a little difference," said
Mallon of the two amateurs. "Aree probably carries the ball more, a little
bit stronger, but Angela has got great control of her swing. She’s always in
play, a good solid putter. I think she has all the factors.
"Aree is still a kid; Angela is almost a college
graduate, so they are very much different in that respect. Angela is very mature
-- marketing major. She is a very impressive person. Aree's got a lot of just
young kinks to work out, but she’s going to be a real strong player, there’s
no doubt about it, she’s got all the tools, just fine tuning."
Mallon envisions one day when the two Wongluekiet
sisters -- Aree and twin sister Naree -- will have great success on the LPGA
Tour.
"I was watching the Williams sisters in
the doubles and I thought well now it’s going to be the Song sisters," she said.
"The Song sisters may be doing the same thing in 10 years, which would be kind
of fun to watch."
Alex Miceli is a freelance writer whose
work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.
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