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Koo Headlines Four Qualifiers for U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship

Qualifying for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship is officially underway – Jasmine Koo, Suthavee Chanachai, Marley Moncada and Han-Hsuan Yu each earned her respective spot to Westchester Country Club, Aug. 2-8, after finishing in the top four at Papago Golf Club on Wednesday.

Koo, of Cerritos, Calif., earned medalist honors by one stroke. She finished at four-under-par after posting a -4 (32) on the back nine alone.

“It feels great, I played really well out there,” said Koo. “I am just super excited to go to New York, especially as a junior. [It’s] really good to compete against older players and get this experience.”

This marks Koo’s first-ever U.S. Women’s Amateur. At 13, she qualified as the youngest player in the field for her first USGA Championship at the 2019 U.S. Girl’s Junior Championship.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself because I was the youngest,” Koos said referring to her 2019 appearance. “This year I am just going to go out and play – I’m going to think of myself as the same as everyone else, focusing on enjoying myself out there.”

Chanachai of Bangkok, Thailand, and Moncada of Tucson, Ariz., picked up the second and third qualifying spots after each finishing three-under-par. Moncada turned in an impressive five-under-par 31 coming in, birding all but three holes on the final nine en route to earning a trip to her first-ever U.S. Women’s Amateur.

“Being a junior golfer and not in college, it means a lot,” Moncada said. “It really boosts my confidence knowing I can stay with them and compete at longer yardages.”

Chanachai, a two-time WAC Player of the Year at New Mexico State University, plans on attending LPGA Tour Qualifying School following her first U.S. Women’s Championship appearance later summer.

Oklahoma State rising senior Han-Hsuan Yu of Taoyuan, Taiwan, secured the final coveted ticket to New York after turning in a two-under-par 70.

“It means a lot because I have not played a U.S. Amateur in a while,” Yu said. “I really want to play in this tournament. I’m super excited.”

The U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, a tournament many consider the ultimate test in women’s amateur golf, is one of 14 championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA). With a record 1, 520 applications accepted by the USGA for the event, 156 competitors will play this August for a chance to hoist the Robert Covey Cox Trophy.  For the second time in U.S. Women’s Amateur history, Westchester Country Club’s famed West Course is set to host the championship.

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