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The Women's Amateur
Koo soars with late eagle to top stroke play qualifying in 122nd Women's Amateur Championship
11 Jun 25
6 mins
Jasmine Koo conjured a grandstand finish in the evening sunshine at Nairn to top the stroke play qualifying in The 122nd Women’s Amateur Championship.
The 19-year-old from California made a birdie on the 17th and an eagle on the final hole in a two-under-par 70 and finished at the head of the leaderboard with a six-under aggregate of 138. While the overnight frontrunner, Marie Eline Madsen of Denmark, stumbled on her back-nine, Koo took advantage with a closing flourish. After her three on the penultimate hole, the Curtis Cup player unleashed a 3-wood into the par-5 18th green, which rolled to within 20 feet and set up the eagle opportunity that she seized. That hoisted her to the summit, one shot ahead of Madsen and France’s Constance Fouillet. “On 18, I hit this crazy second shot with a 3-wood,” said Koo. “It wasn't supposed to get there but it got all the way there. “I was left with a little uphill right-to-left 20-footer. I thought it was going in the whole way and just before it went in, it stopped a little bit. The fist bump was already up and I was like, ‘all right, this is really embarrassing if it doesn't go in’. But it went in thankfully. “It's an honour to have that number one spot. It builds confidence, but at the same time everybody is after you. If I can get over that challenge then I know I have the game to beat everybody in this field.”
Jasmine Koo shakes hands with her caddie after day two of The Women's Amateur Championship.
Madsen, who posted a course-record 66 on day one to set the pace, had fortified her position of authority with an eagle on her 2nd hole in round two.
At one stage, the Dane was three strokes clear of the chasing pack but a bogey on the 13th was followed by a double-bogey on the 15th and she slipped off the top with a 73.
Madsen said, ”I’m definitely happy to get through. It’s going to be fun from tomorrow. My highlight today was an eagle on the 2nd. I hit a pretty good drive down the left side, hit an 8-iron on the green, had like 150 yards and then I made a six-metre putt.”
Fouillet, who was handily placed after an opening 70, experienced a roller-coaster start to her second round with a bogey, an eagle and a double-bogey on her first three holes.
The 19-year-old, who is a student at the University of California, steadied the ship with a stream of sturdy pars before reeling off a quartet of birdies at the 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th in a 69 to coast into the match play stages on five-under 139.
“I keep saying that I'm kind of a diesel,” she said. “I’m always off to a slow start. It takes me a few holes to actually lock in. But I knew I was going to have a couple of opportunities on the back nine, so I stayed patient. I steadied myself up, and then just trusted the process. It worked pretty well.”
Céline Boutier was the last French winner of The Women’s Amateur Championship ten years ago.
“Céline is really inspiring,” added Fouillet. “The Women's Amateur Championship is obviously a great championship in a career, but I think it's important for me not to get on top of myself.
“What I'm trying to do right now is go step by step, match by match.”
Constance Fouillet moved up the leaderboard with a round of 69.
The French offensive was bolstered by Sara Brentcheneff who underlined her talents with a delightfully assembled six-under 66, equalling the course record set by Madsen on day one.
The 17-year-old, who won among the professionals on the Ladies' European Tour Access Series earlier this season, did not have a single birdie in her opening round of 74 but she wasted no time in making hay while the sun shone down on Nairn and birdied her first three holes.
She was joined on the four-under mark by her compatriot, Louise Reau, another USA Curtis Cup player in Catherine Park, and Scotland’s Hannah Darling.
The qualifying cut mark fell at five-over-par, with 12 players involved in a remarkable play-off for the final eight places that lasted more than two hours and still had not concluded at almost 11pm local time when darkness brought proceedings to a halt.
Romaine Masserey and Judy Joo still could not be separated after six holes and will resume on Thursday at 7:45am, seeking to earn the last match play place available.
Lucy Jamieson, Alice Johansson, Vairana Heck, Paula Schulz-Hanssen, Caterina Don, Noa van Beek and Momo Sugiyama progressed earlier in the play-off, while Martina Navarro Navarro, Elsa Svensson and Kajsalotta Svarvar were eliminated.
A total of 64 players will contest the match play stage, which gets underway on Thursday.
The stroke play leaderboard can be viewed here.