Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 13, 1994 TAG: 9408160031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS LENGTH: Medium
Wendy Ward and Jill McGill, longtime friends and foes, will meet again today in the 36-hole final at The Homestead's Cascades Course.
``Wendy and I are good friends, so it should be a nice and fun, good-spirited match,'' said McGill, bidding to become the first player since Kay Cockerill in 1986-87 to win consecutive U.S. Women's Am titles.
``Whoever plays best will win, and when it's over, it will be a good story,'' she said.
McGill, the cover story all week, had to share some headlines with Ward in Friday's semifinals.
While McGill was pressed to the limit in a 1-up win over reigning NCAA champion Emilee Klein, Ward crushed unheralded Andrea Baxter 7 and 5.
Baxter, a 19-year-old sophomore at Stanford, never knew what hit her in the most lopsided semifinal match since Canadian Cathy Sherk dusted Texan Brenda Goldsmith 9 and 8 in 1977.
Ward shot a 5-under 30 on the front, birdieing Nos. 2, 3, 7, 8 and eagling No. 9, to take an insurmountable 6-up lead.
``I had six one putts on the front, so that helped,'' said Ward, a 20-year-old rising senior at Arizona State. ``I made putts from anywhere, from all over [including a 45-footer at 9].''
Baxter, recent winner of the Idaho State Amateur, could never find cover.
``Ouch is right,'' said Baxter, when asked how she felt. ``Did anything go right? No, not really.
``She made six birdies [five plus an eagle] on the front, so even if I had played well it may not have mattered. It was amazing, really. I hope she wins. I'll be wearing a Wendy Ward T-shirt [today].''
Ward, one of the few players in the 147-player field who can keep pace with long-hitting McGill off the tee, said playing in an U.S. Amateur final is the ultimate thrill.
``Anybody dreams to get to this position,'' said Ward, runner-up to Klein in the '94 NCAA and a member of the '94 U.S. Curtis Cup team.
The McGill-Klein match pitted two players who are turning professional next week. Neither, of course, wanted to leave the amateur ranks on a losing note.
Klein, dwarfed by 6-foot McGill, struck first, going 2-up through five holes.
At the par-4 No.6 hole, Klein appeared ready to go 3-up until McGill sank a 10-foot par putt to complete a great up-and-down from behind the green.
``You can't let anybody win two holes in a row,'' McGill said. ``It lets everybody get their momentum going too much.''
Inspired by that save, McGill made a 12-foot birdie putt at No.7 and two-putted the par-5 ninth for a birdie to get even at the turn.
The 22-year-old Coloradan took her first lead at No.12 by making a 12-foot birdie.
Klein squandered a great chance at the par-4 14th to draw even, three-putting from 25 feet for a bogey after McGill had left her third shot in a greenside sand trap and made a 5.
``That three-putt really hurt,'' Klein said. ``I had been lag-putting really well all week. I guess I just sort of took it for granted and didn't look it over as hard as I should have.''
Klein made another mistake at 202-yard 15th, where her tee shot took a hard hop over the green. Klein flubbed her chip, letting McGill take the hole with a par 3.
Refusing to go quietly, Klein stuck a sand wedge to 10 inches for a birdie at No.17 to get back to 1-down. Needing to win the 18th hole, Klein saw her chances end when her 18-foot birdie effort slid 2 inches below the hole.
``I just made some mistakes that you can make in the U.S. Amateur semifinals,'' Klein said.
McGill, who is 23-1 in match play since last summer's Broadmoor Invitational, said she has thought ``once or twice`` about what it would be like to win the biggest prize in women's amateur golf a second straight time.
``It's on my mind big-time now,'' she said, smiling. ``It's what I'm trying to do tomorrow.
``Really, I'm super happy to be in the finals again. But I'll be even happier if I win.''
by CNB