Neshanic Station, NJ (Sports Network) - Medalist Lisa McCloskey advanced to
the round of 32 on Wednesday with a 1-up victory over Hana Ku in the match-
play portion at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.
McCloskey, the 2010 runner-up, birdied the 18th hole to defeat the 64th-seeded
Ku at Neshanic Valley Golf Course. She advanced to face Alice Jeong, a 5 & 3
winner over Julie Shutler.
The highest-seeded player to bow out on Wednesday was third-seeded Steffi
Neisen, who was beaten handily 5 & 3 by Lea Garner. Second-seeded Karen Chung,
fourth-seeded Lakareber Abe and fifth-seeded Kelly Shon all advanced to
Thursday's round.
Additionally, 2010 champ and 13th seeded Emily Tubert also won on Wednesday.
For awhile on Wednesday, it looked as if McCloskey would join Neisen on the
sidelines for the rest of the week.
She started innocently enough by winning the first hole, but allowed Ku to
square the match on the fourth. Ku rallied for three straight holes from the
10th to take a commanding lead with only six holes left, but McCloskey didn't
go quietly.
The medalist put together a string of three consecutive birdies from the 13th,
winning each hole en route to squaring the match with three holes remaining.
She broke through with a birdie at the last to vanquish her opponent.
Thursday will pare the field from 32 to eight golfers after two rounds of
match play. The event concludes with Saturday's 36-hole final.
Among the other winners on Wednesday were Alyssa Ferrell, Dana Finkelstein,
Annie Park, Sally Watson, Brittany Altomare, Tiffany Lua, Elisabeth Bernabe,
Doris Chen, Rachel Morris, Yi Chen Liu, Kyung Kim, Chirapat Jao-Javanil,
Kristina Merkle, Pailin Ruttanasupagid, Aliisen Corpuz, Chieh Peng, Demi
Frances Runas, Kim Kaufman, Grace Na, Hannah Basalone, Kristine Odaiyar,
Emilie Burger, Ashlan Ramsay, Jennifer Yang and T.J. Kliebphipat.
The Sports Network