Carolina López Chacarra (-4) progresses steadily in the US Women’s Amateur. The Spaniard has replicated her first-round scorecard to finish the first phase in the tournament’s top twenty and advance to the final Match Play stage. Despite a great second round, Cayetana Fernández (+3) bids farewell to Bandon Dunes earlier than desired.
Second time lucky. After a first participation in 2024 where she exited without surpassing the Stroke Play phase with a painful +17, this year Carol will indeed be in the fight for the title.
The second round didn’t start well for Chacarra’s interests as she made a bogey on her second hole of the day. It would be her first and last slip, as she perfectly recovered with a birdie on the next hole. With two more successes on the 12th and 16th, she sealed a total of four under par. Solid and without any trouble surpassing a cut that went up to +1.
Fate and her rivals’ results have set up a tough, very tough match. Her opponent for a spot among the tournament’s top thirty-two will be the world number five, Farah O’Keefe. Carol, who is in the top 15 and enjoys these types of matches, has nothing to fear, but it’s true that the Texan has a great track record in Match Play. In fact, she reached the final of the Women’s Amateur Championship and only conceded on the 35th hole against an immense Paula Martín. Carol will seek to extend the Spanish curse in O’Keefe’s summer.
The bitter side of the day was left by Cata Fernández García-Poggio (+3). The second Spaniard in the fray signed a great final round of 69 strokes and gave herself the chance to dream. However, the effort was insufficient, and she fell two strokes short of making the cut at Bandon Dunes.
The Madrid native fought and tried until the last moment, but the deficit from the first day was too large, and she needed to fly very low in the second 18 holes of the tournament.
The two players who finished this first phase at the top and become the Medallists of this edition are precisely last year’s two finalists. Rianne Malixi (-9) and Asterisk Talley (-9) are proving unbeatable and will fight to repeat the duel from twelve months ago at Erin Hills. The World Number One, Kiara Romero (-5), also advances to the final phase after finishing among the top ten in this initial stage.
At this moment, there are 58 players already qualified, and fifteen players who finished tied at +1 will compete for the remaining six spots in a sudden-death playoff. From this Wednesday, the Match Play battle to become the US Women’s Amateur champion begins. The dream of the Triple Crown remains alive.
