NCAA champ advances to U.S. Women's Amateur final
A nightmare roused Virginia Elena Carta from her sleep a good four hours before she was to start her U.S. Women's Amateur semifinal match Saturday. She tried to go back to sleep but could not as the excitement started to take hold.
A nightmare roused Virginia Elena Carta from her sleep a good four hours before she was to start her U.S. Women's Amateur semifinal match Saturday. She tried to go back to sleep but could not as the excitement started to take hold.
From the way she played Saturday against Yuka Saso, Carta did not appear to be lacking sleep. The 19-year-old Duke sophomore from Italy rode some clutch putting on her closing holes to a 2-and-1 victory and a berth in Sunday's final at Rolling Green Golf Club.
Carta will meet 16-year-old Eun Jeong Seong of South Korea, a 2-and-1 winner over Mathilda Cappeliez of France, in the 36-hole championship match beginning at 7:30 a.m.
History will be made. Carta wants to join Vicki Goetze (1992) as the only person to win the NCAA individual championship and the U.S. Women's Amateur in the same year. Seong, who has won back-to-back U.S. Girls Junior Championships, will attempt to become the first to win the junior title and the amateur in the same year.
Carta, who won NCAAs by a record 8 strokes, said she woke up at 4 a.m. Saturday because "I had a nightmare that was super bad." She said she didn't remember it but felt people were following her and she was "sprinting all over the city." It didn't help her sleep schedule, though.
"The problem of waking up at 4 is trying to replace the dream, and the match was coming into my mind," she said. "I was not happy because I couldn't fall asleep again. But at the same time, I didn't want to continue my nightmare. So I just stayed up. I was trying to not fall asleep."
The match was all square after 12, but Carta made some key putts and did not lose another hole from that point. She got up and down from bunkers at the 13th and 14th holes - a 4-footer for a half at 13, a 7-footer at 14 for a win to go 1-up.
At No. 15, Carta ran a 35-foot downhill birdie try some 10 feet past the hole, but she made the comebacker to remain 1-up. After 16 was halved, Carta crushed a 3-wood second shot from 215 yards at the par-5 17th to 4 feet, and two-putted to clinch the match.
Carta hugged her opponent and then tearfully embraced Roberto Zappa, her caddie and coach. The two conversed in Italian throughout the round.
"It's just really, really emotional," she said, "like relief, a little bit of the tension that I had, and a little bit of pressure, too, because I knew I couldn't lose my attention, not even for one second."
Seong never trailed in her match against the 18-year-old Cappeliez, taking the lead for good with a par at the ninth hole. She birdied the 12th and 15th holes while losing No. 13 to get to 2-up with three holes to play, and clinched the match at the 17th with a par-5.
Now Seong gets to play for some history, which she called a "privilege."
"I'm looking for a U.S. Women's Amateur win, but I will play my [game]," she said. "I won't [feel] pressure from another player."
Carta also is excited.
"If she can win the U.S. Girls and U.S. Am in the same year, I think that's amazing, and I'm really excited she has that opportunity," she said. "But I'm really excited to be in the final, too."
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