Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408120094
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS LENGTH: Medium
Mashing the throttle toward a second consecutive title, McGill ripped The Homestead's renowned Cascades Course for 10 birdies and two eagles in 31 holes while cruising past two more dazed opponents and moving into today's semifinal round.
After struggling a bit in two victories Wednesday, McGill brought the whole package in her bag Thursday.
The 22-year-old Denver native was 4-under in a 2-and-1 morning victory over England's Lisa Walton. In the afternoon quarterfinal round, McGill made short work of Wisconsin's Joellyn Erdmann, playing 14 holes in 5-under to win 5 and 4.
``I'm hitting the ball much better now than I did [Wednesday],'' McGill said. ``I got it close to the pin a lot and made some putts.
``I'm back to the fundamentals again. Like I said yesterday, I play better when I swing at the ball hard. And once you rip one or two shots and start feeling good, well ..., you just aim at the pin and go for it.''
McGill threw more leaners at the sticks Thursday than the boys hanging around at The Homestead's horseshoe pit.
``She's hard to handle, no doubt about it,'' said Walton, a former British Amateur champion who plays collegiately at San Jose State. ``We halved four holes with birdies. It seemed like every time I did something, she did something to top it.''
McGill, whose boyfriend is a hammer-thrower, then dropped the anvil on Erdmann, shooting 4-under 32 on the front to build a 4-up cushion.
McGill, who plays 1994 NCAA champion Emilee Klein of Studio City, Calif., in a semifinal, conceded she has started to think about becoming the first back-to-back champion since Kay Cockerill in 1986-87.
``You begin to see maybe a little light at the end of the tunnel,'' she said. ``We started with 147 players, and now there's only four, so the odds are getting better.
``Still, there's a lot of work left. This is match play, and anything can happen.''
Klein, who like McGill is making her final amateur appearance before turning professional next week, had to work overtime to advance, nipping Denmark's Pernille Pedersen 1-up in 19 holes in the quarterfinal round.
Klein, 20, had rallied to tie the match by winning No.16 with a par and birdieing No.18 from 3 1/2 feet.
Klein won it on the first playoff hole, when Pedersen missed the fairway with her drive, left her second shot short, chipped short and lipped out from 12 feet for par.
``I've never seen anybody in my life make so many putts,'' Klein said of Pedersen, the 1992 British Amateur champion. ``I don't think Jill can make any more putts than this girl did today. Sure, Jill is going to be tough. She's a lot longer than I am and has shorter shots to the greens. That's one reason she makes so many birdies. But I've got a good short game, too. We'll see what happens.''
In the upper bracket, '94 NCAA runner-up Wendy Ward of Arizona State will face unheralded Stanford sophomore Amanda Baxter.
Ward, 21, was 4-under for the day in bouncing Floridian Dina Taylor 2-up and 18-year-old Riko Higashio of Japan 7 and 5.
``It was nice to not have to play 'em all for a change,'' Ward said. ``I'm still waiting for a round, though, when things really jell. I'm hoping I can find that at the right time. Now would do.''
No matter what happens today, Baxter already has become the state of Idaho's most famous golfer. The Eagle, Idaho, native eliminated New Yorker Moira Dunn 2 and 1 before dispatching 1993 U.S. Junior Girls champion Kellee Booth of Coto de Caza, Calif., 1-up in 19 holes.
``Maybe the people I've played have overlooked me,'' said Baxter, in her first U.S. Amateur. ``I'm not a big name. I sort of struggled along at Stanford this past year, playing No.4 and No.5." ``I can't believe I played Kellee Booth. I've been in a lot of tournaments with her, but we never got to play because she was always in the final.''
SAND BLASTS: Today's Baxter-Ward match starts at 10 a.m., with the McGill-Klein pairing going off at 10:15. The 36-hole final will be played Saturday, starting at 8:30 a.m. ... With the exception of Baxter, the semifinalists played on the 1994 U.S. Curtis Cup team. ... McGill eagled the 430-yard par-5 ninth hole twice Thursday. McGill reached the green with a driver and a 7-iron against Erdmann.
Keywords:
GOLF
by CNB