McCurdy Finishes Tied For 39th At U.S. Women's Open

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, COLORADO – Lady Razorback junior Amanda McCurdy battled her way to a final round seven-over par 78 Sunday at the U.S. Women’s Open for a four-day score of 15-over par. “I’m not very happy about it right now, “ said McCurdy shortly after holing out on 18, “because of the way I ended the day and just the way I played today but I can’t do anything about now so I have to take the experience for what it was and go work hard so I can be back next year.” Birdie Kim won the tournament, her first major, with a 3-over (287) finish after holing out a bunker shot on the 18th hole for birdie, the only one Sunday on 18. McCurdy, one of six amateurs to make the cut, had a final score of 299, which earned her a tie for 38th. Brittany Lang and Morgan Pressel tied for low amateur honors as both finished tied for second at 5-under par. Sunday’s round proved to be an up and down affair for the El Dorado native starting with a birdie on the opening hole and concluding with an even-par finish on the punishing final three holes at Cherry Hills Country Club. “To finish the way she did today on those three closing holes just demonstrates what a gusty player she is, “ noted Arkansas head coach Kelley Hester, “We’re extremely proud of Amanda and the way she represented our program, the University of Arkansas, and the state of Arkansas.” The U.S.G.A. did not water the greens prior to Sunday’s round and it made stopping shots on the greens very difficult as McCurdy found out on the par-4 3rd when her approach would not check up and instead rolled into the right rough behind the green. After a chip, her 12-foot downhill par putt rolled over the right edge refusing to fall, as she had to settle for bogey. Obviously disappointed, McCurdy would bogey four of the next five holes leaving her four over for the round and in need of some good fortune, which would come on the 419-yard uphill par-4 9th hole. She pulled her drive hard left into the rough beyond the spectator ropes but the trampled grass provided a decent enough lie to advance the ball back into the fairway some 45 feet in front of the green. Her third shot, a 52-yard chip, was played to perfection as it hit the middle of the green, rolled up the right to left slope until it ducked into the hole for birdie, the only one during Sunday’s final round. “That was pretty cool,” said McCurdy, “ I thought it was going to turn things around but it just didn’t happen.” Just when it seemed she had momentum on her side it went away as McCurdy opened the back nine with a double-bogey and bogey to move to 6-over on the day. A 2-putt par on 12 seemed to settle her down which showed on the 384-yard par-4 13th when her approach finished 3 feet behind the pin setting up her 3rd birdie of the day. She followed that with a par and bogey putting her at seven-over par as she stood on the tee box of the 428-yard par-4 16th. Her tee shot found the sloping fairway on the left side resulting in a second shot in which the ball would be 3 inches below her feet. It was the same lie she had on Friday that resulted in a pulled approach in the rough that led to a triple bogey. It was not a problem Sunday as her approach shot was landed on the front of the green then rolled right at the back left pin location coming to rest 3 feet from the hole. Her biride putt was dead center dropping into the hole bringing a big smile to McCurdy’s face and an obvious gesture of relief. Her third shot to the 531-yard par-5 17th landed on the front of the green then checked up 6 and a half feet from the pin leaving a downhill birdie putt. Her putting stroke failed her as the putt pushed just over the left edge leaving a 3 footer uphill putt for par which she sank. After finding the fairway on the 459-yard uphill par-4 18th, McCurdy’s second shot finishing just short of the front bunker. A soft pitch shot skipped up on the hardening green stopping 10 feet from the hole. Her par putt was just an inch off to the left leaving her with a tap-in bogey for a total of 78 strokes on the par-71 Cherry Hills 18. “It was really tough today, “ replied an exhausted McCurdy, “ and will get even tougher as the day goes on. Still, I am excited to have been here and will learn from this experience.” Divots: The El Dorado native hit 10 of 14 fairways and only 6 greens in regulation Sunday. Her 28 putts in the final round were the fewest of any round this week. For the week, McCurdy ranked tied for 11th in fairways hit (79%), tied for 15th in putting with an average of 1.64 per hole, and tied for 44th in greens in regulation (53%). ….McCurdy’s playing partner Sunday, Catriona Matthew, shot a 6-over 77 and finished tied for 31st…..Lorie Kane posted the only sub-par round Sunday shooting a 2-under 69. … Kim’s victory was worth $560,000, the largest winner’s check in women’s golf. Michael Campbell’s win at the U.S. Open last week was worth $1.17 million. Tiger Woods earned $700,000 for 2nd place….The average score in the final round was 76.097…..For the tournament the par-71 layout played to an average of 75.797 shots per round…15-year old amateur Michelle Wie, who began Sunday tied for the lead, shot an 11-over par 82… ….Brittany Lincicome led the field in driving average at 282.6 yards. McCurdy averaged 259 yards per drive on Sunday but ranked last at 217.5 yards…There were only 9 eagles this week, seven coming on the par-5 11th….A U.S. Women’s Open record crowd of 29,989 attended Saturday’s round and Sunday’s round broke that record with 31,037 on hand…Total attendance for the week was 131,137 which easily surpassed last year’s record crowd of 118,864…..A hog call filled the valley of the first hole after McCurdy’s tee shot found the fairway…..Some enterprising young ladies were handing out free bottles of water from a backyard bordering the 18th hole. They did ask for and receive donations for college in return….Annika Sorenstam, who was making a run for the Grand Slam, finshed tied for 23rd after a 6-over 77 Sunday….Sorenstam used an iron on the tee box of the 538-yard par-5 5th….More information on Amanda McCurdy and the Lady Razorback golf team can be found Ladybacks.com, the official website of Lady Razorback Athletics.