Stone Does Unto Heck What Heck Had Done Unto Rao, Will Play Schofill in U.S. Women's Am Final

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LOS ANGELES -- "Turnabout is fair play," according to the old proverb. But in golf, at elite amateur tournaments, turnabout is a recurring theme. 

Just ask Rachel Heck. 

On Friday, Heck took a buzz-saw to Catherine Rao in their quarterfinal match at the 2023 U.S. Women's Amateur. Heck, the No. 9 seed, birdied four of the first eight holes at iconic Bel-Air Country Club, and five of the first 12. And 12 holes were all the Stanford University star -- and 2021 NCAA champion -- needed to dismiss the 16th-seeded Rao 8&6. But on Saturday, in the semifinals, it was No. 45 seed Latanna Stone wielding the buzz-saw in her match against Heck. She birdied five of the first nine holes and six of the first 11 in a 3&2 victory.

Stone, a grad student at LSU, won the 497-yard, par-5 first hole with a birdie. She lost the second to Heck's par, but won the par-4 fourth with a par and the par-3 fifth with a birdie. Heck responded in kind, with a birdie at the sixth, only to see Stone take charge of the match with birdies on the next three holes -- the 356-yard, par-4 seventh, the 500-yard, par-5 eighth and the 333-yard, par-4 ninth. The 10th hole at Bel-Air is a par 3, but it's 212 yards and almost hard enough to be a par 4. Both players made 3s there, but then Stone made her fourth birdie in five holes -- and sixth of the match -- at the 380-yard, par-4 11th.

That put her 5 up. Heck, who was even par at that point, won the par-3 13th with a par, and she won the 426-yard, par-4 15th with a birdie, before Stone closed her out by halving the par-3 16th with a par.

Stone had to claw her way back from 5 down after seven holes and 4 down after 12 in her Round of 16 match against 2022 U.S. Junior Girls champ Yana Wilson, the No. 29 seed. After making a 10-foot putt just to stay alive on the 17th hole, Stone won the 18th with a par, but then she missed an 18-inch putt for birdie at No. 1 that would have won the match. Undaunted, she made a 25-footer for birdie at No. 2 and eliminated Wilson. In her quarterfinal match against No. 53.Thienna Huynh, Stone took a 1-up lead with an eagle at the eighth and followed that with eight pars. Two of those pars -- at  the 10th and 12th -- won the holes, and Stone advanced, 3&2.

Her opponent in Sunday's 36-hole final will be Megan Schofill. A grad student at Auburn who will be in her fifth year on the golf team during the 2023-24 college season (the NCAA granted the fifth year of eligibility to athletes who lost a year to Covid 19 in 2020), Schofill had to go 19 holes to beat No. 54 Caitlin Pierce in the Round of 16. In the quarterfinals, she faced future teammate Anna Davis, the No. 46 seed and a soon-to-be freshman at Auburn. Davis was the highest-ranked player in the field (No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings), and she was 1 under through eight holes against Schofill. But she was 1 down by then, and Schofill went on to win 2&1.

Schofill got off to a quick start in the semifinals, against No. 7 Hailey Borja, a grad student at Michigan, and she was 2 up after three holes, thanks to birdies at the first and third holes. Borja levelled the match by winning the fourth and sixth holes. Schofill reclaimed the lead with a birdie at the seventh. They halved the next five holes, but Borja got back into a tie with a birdie at the par-3 13th. Schofill could have won the par-5 14th with a two-putt birdie, but she made an eagle instead, and she went 2 up by winning the par-4 15th. 

Borja's tee shot at the 110-yard, 16th came up short; her ball rolled back down the slope in front of the green, and she had a 50-yard second shot. She got up and down for a par, and tied the hole, but it only postponed the inevitable, and Schofill closed her out 2&1 by tying the 17th with a par.

The final is scheduled to begijn a 9:45 Pacific Daylight Time on Sunday morning. 


U.S. Women's Amateur Championship

At Bel-Air Country Club 

Par 70, 6,155 yards

Los Angeles

Stroke Play results (the top 64 finishers in stroke play will begin the match-play part of the tournament Wednesday morning)

1. Briana Chacon, Whittier, Calif.                66-65--131
 
2. Andrea Lignell, Sweden                           68-65--133

3. Gianna Clemente, Estero, Fla.                69-65--134

4. Katie Cranston, Canada                          67-68--135

T5. Caroline Canales, Calabasas, Calif.      66-70--136

T5. Hailey Borja, Lake Forest, Calif.            68-68--136

T5. Megan Schofill, Monticello, Fla.             70-66--136

T8. Rachel Heck, Memphis, Tenn.               70-67--137

T8. Nikki Oh, Torrance, Calif.                      69-68--137

T8. Malia Nam, Kailua, Hawaii                    68-69--137

Cut -- 144 (There was a 10-way tie at 144; so there will be a 10-for-9 playoff Wednesday morning.)

Bella McCauley, Inver Grove Heights       72-74--146

Grace Curran, New Lennox, Ill.                 73-74--147

Emma Groom, Eden Prairie                       73-75--148

Emma Carpenter, Dekalb, Ill.                      76-73--149

Megan Furtney, St. Charles, Ill.                  77-78--155

Natalie Young, Rapid City, S.D.                  88-87--175


Match Play

Round of 64

No. 1 Chacon def. No. 64 Olivia Duan 19 holes

No. 63 Charlotte Canntonis def. No. 2 Lignell 4&3

No. 3 Clemente def. No. 62 Jensen Castle 4&3

No. 4 Cranston def. No. 61 Brooke Rivers 3&2

No. 5 Canales def. No. 60 Bentley Cotton 1 up

No. 6 Schofill def. No. 59 Jackie Ragowicz 7&6

No. 7 Borja def. No. 58 Megan Meng 1 up

No. 8 Oh def. No. 57 Ching-Tzu Chen 2&1

No. 9 Heck def. No. 56 Sera Hasegawa 21 holes

No. 55 Bailey Shoemaker def. No. 10 Nam  1 up

Round of 32

No. 32 Catie Craig def. No. 1 Chacon 4&2

No. 34 Lauren Leihigh def. No. 63 Cantonis 3&2

No. 30 Anne Chen def. No. 3 Clemente 4&3

No. 29 Yana Wilson def. No. 4 Cranston 2 up

No. 37 Taylor Riley def. No. 5 Canales 4&3

No. 6 Schofill def. No. 27 Kelly Xu 3&2

No. 7 Borja def. No. 39 Sara Im 1 up

No. 8 Oh def. No. 40 Laney Frye 1 up

No. 9 Heck def. No. 24 Rin Yoshida 4&2

No. 55 Shoemaker def. No. 23 Rianne Malixi 19 holes 

Round of 16

No. 16 Catherine Rao def. No. 32 Craig 19 holes 

No. 18 Kyra Ly def. No. 34 Lehigh 1 up

No. 46 Anna Davis def. No. 30 Chen 4&3

No. 45 Latanna Stone def. No. 29 Wilson 20 holes 

Np. 53 Thienna Huynh def. No. 37 Riley 4&3

No. 6 Schofill def. No. 54 Caitlin Pierce 19 holes 

No. 7 Borja def. No. 55 Shoemaker 3&2

No. 9 Heck def. No. 8 Oh 4&3


Quartrerfinals

No. 9 Heck def. No. 16 Rao 8&6

No. 6 Schofill def. No. 46 Davis2&1

No. 45 Stone def. No. 53 Huynh 3&2

No. 7 Borja def. No. 18 Ly 3&2


Semifinals 

No. 45 Stone def. No. 9 Heck 3&2

No. 6 Schofill def. No. 7 Borja 2&1