Friday’s quarterfinal and semifinal matches at the 71st U.S. Girls’ Junior at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis., produced some high-quality golf and a few upsets.
No. 1 seed Yuka Saso was cruising through the tournament before meeting her match in the semifinals, No. 5 seed Jillian Bourdage. The Tamarac, Fla. native defeated Saso 2 up to earn her spot in Saturday’s 36-hole final match.
Joining Bourdage in the final is No. 7 seed Lei Ye, who defeated Nicole Whiston 3&2.
U.S. Girls’ Junior: Scores | Photo gallery | Rankings
Earlier in the day, all four quarterfinal matches went to at least the 17th hole in Friday’s morning matches, with three going the full 18 holes.
Saso took down rapidly rising Rose Zhang 2 up in the first match of the morning. The match was tied through 16 holes before Saso closed out Zhang with a par and birdie on the last two holes.
Bourdage was the lone match to not see the 18th hole as she closed out Lauren Beaudreau 2&1. Ye defeated Brooke Seay 1 up. Whiston, the No. 46 seed, earned the only upset of the quarterfinals with her 1 up defeat of No. 11 seed Briana Chacon.
