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The Women's Amateur
Spaniards shine to reach quarter-finals of The Women’s Amateur Championship
13 Jun 25
5 mins
Paula Francisco and Paula Martin Sampedro set up an all-Spanish quarter-final showdown in The 122nd Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn.
On a bright, balmy and breezy day, Francisco and Martin Sampedro both earned their last-eight places the hard way as they were pushed the full distance and more in a series of tightly fought tussles. Francisco, the 19-year-old who finished third in last season’s Spanish Amateur Championship, mounted a spirited comeback in her morning match against the number one seed Jasmine Koo and overturned a four-hole deficit with just seven to play before winning on the 19th. In her last-16 duel with India’s Mannat Brar, it was Francisco who had to fend off a fightback having been three up through 10 holes. A birdie from the defiant Brar on the 15th squared the match but Francisco stuck a decisive blow on the 18th with a neatly executed putt from the back of the green that led to a match-winning birdie. Martin Sampedro, the highest-ranked European in the field at number 12 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), beat Megan Propeck by one hole in the morning and triumphed on the 18th green again in the afternoon as the 19-year-old overcame another American, Morgan Miller. Francisco and Martin Sampedro, aiming to join the likes of Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Munoz as Spanish winners of The Women’s Amateur Championship, have played together as team-mates for Spain but this encounter on Scottish soil will be their first against each other.
Paula Francisco is excited to be facing compatriot Paula Martin Sampedro in the last eight
“It's a dream to play Paula now,” said Francisco as she looked forward to her joust with her compatriot.
“We've always talked about it. I'm just super excited to play with her, have fun with her out there. Just knowing one of us is going to make it to the semi-finals keeps my heart warm.”
Martin Sampedro was equally as excited about this all-Spanish clash. “I’m super happy that we both made the quarter-finals,” she added. “Whoever wins will be in the semi-finals, so I'll be happy either way.”
Isla McDonald-O’Brien, with her dad, Andy, acting as caddie, will carry English hopes in the last eight after she battled to a two-hole victory over Australia’s Jazy Roberts.
McDonald-O’Brien, who beat the world number seven Catherine Park 3&2 in the last 32, will now face Caterina Don after the former World Junior Team Champion with Italy recorded a one-hole win over France’s Camille Min-Gaultier.
Don has played only one World Amateur Golf Ranking event this year – the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April – but her lack of competitive action has certainly not been a barrier to success at Nairn this week.
“I came here just trying to play golf and have fun, and now I'm standing in the last eight,” she said. “It feels pretty special.”
USA Curtis Cup player Anna Davis will face off against Tillie Claggett of Canada, the latter having ended the hopes of Scotland’s Hannah Darling, a two-time semi-finalist, with a 3&2 win.
Anna Davis is looking to follow up her 2022 win at the Augusta National Women's Amateur
Farah O’Keefe, the world number eight, will square up to Marie Eline Madsen of Denmark.
Madsen, a semi-finalist in The Women’s Amateur Championship at Portmarnock last year, conjured one of the best fightbacks of the day in her morning match with Bentley Cotton of the USA.
The Dane had been four down after ten holes but mounted a rousing salvage operation and birdied five of the closing eight to restore parity, before making another birdie at the first extra hole to claim a thrilling triumph.
You can watch the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of The Women's Amateur Championship live on R&A TV and YouTube this weekend, as well as Sky Sports in the UK.
Saturday's quarter-final broadcast begins at 0745 BST.