Recap from the Western Golf Association (new window)

I had a Tuesday stroke play round I needed to forget.  I hardly ever make a double, yet by the end of round one I had carded three of them against no birdies to post an 80.   The next day I bounced back with the second lowest round, an even par 72.  I wasn't even sure I would make the 16-player cut for match play, but by the time I finished lunch I had climbed to T11.

I won my first two matches on Thursday and my semifinal match on Friday morning to set up the final match in the afternoon against 18 year-old Jessica Mason from Colorado.  It turned out to be an epic match that went back and forth and then fittingly went into sudden death on the 19th hole.

We started on Hole 1 and were both on the par 4 in regulation. I rolled my 33 footer to within a foot for the conceded par.  Jessica had a slightly shorter 30 footer, but it had at least a 3 foot break so I felt pretty good about going to the next hole...right up until she drained the putt.  I was stunned for a few seconds and then went over and gave her a congratulatory hug.  It had been a fun day, though, with lots of people following us.

I'll cherish the memory of that forever.  It was one of those times in junior golf where you get to feel somewhat like an LPGA Tour Pro, because we had a sizeable gallery following and watching.  The loss still hurts, but in the end I guess it was better to be beaten by a low-percentage long birdie than a tap-in par.

Dad had done his homework and said to me afterwards, "Lisa, if you play this tournament next year and win it, you would be still be a few months younger than both Nancy Lopez and Brooke Henderson when they won theirs."

Color commentary from Tim Cronin on IllinoisGolfer.net  (new window)