Fleming's Run in U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Ends in Semifinals
UPDATE (September 13, 2017) -- A 2-and-1 defeat halted Tara Fleming's run in the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship, Wednesday afternoon at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore.
Fleming raced out to a 3-up advantage through four holes, but Canada's Judith Kyrinis leveled the match after wins on Nos. 7, 9, and 10. Fleming reclaimed the lead with a birdie-two on No. 11, but that would be her last win of the match. Kyrinis squared the match with a par-five on the 13th, while wins on Nos. 16 and 17 eliminated Fleming, 2-and-1.
Fleming was making her first appearance in the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur.
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UPDATE (September 13, 2017) -- Tara Fleming's run continued Wednesday in the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship with a 3-and-2 win over former U.S. Women's Mid-Am champion Mary Ann Hayward of Canada at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore.
Related: Scoring | Story: Life Begins Again at 50 for Fleming
Fleming and Hayward traded wins on Nos. 3-7, with Hayward claiming the 1-up advantage. However, a pair of birdies on the par-three 9th and 11th holes were part of a stretch of four-consecutive wins for Fleming, which quickly gained the Jersey City, N.J., resident a 3-up lead. Hayward claimed the par-four 15th, but Fleming quickly shut the door on the match, winning the following hole to secure the victory, 3-and-2.
Fleming, a competitor on the MGA/WMGA's French-American Challenge team last year, now faces another Canadian competitor in Judith Kyrinis in Wednesday afternoon's semifinal round. Kyrinis finished as runner-up in the 2014 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur.
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ELMSFORD, N.Y. (September 12, 2017) -- Tara Fleming of Jersey City, N.J., is making the most of her first-ever appearance in the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship, having advanced to the quarterfinals of the event at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore. Fleming continues play Wednesday against Canada's Mary Ann Hayward, the 2005 U.S. Women's Mid-Am champion, at 11:10 a.m., ET.
Related: Scoring | Story: Life Begins Again at 50 for Fleming
Fleming's run in the championship began with rounds of 76-74 in on-site qualifying over the weekend, which earned her the fifth overall seed in match play. She stood one down through 14 holes in her Round of 64 match, but won the next two holes and held on for a 1-up win. With two rounds of match play taking place on Tuesday, Fleming's game has only become stronger as the championship has progressed. Trailing by one hole entering the final nine of her Round of 32 match, Fleming won three holes on the way in while dropping none, as she claimed a 2-and-1 win. She then sealed her place in the quarterfinals with a 5-and-3 victory over Leigh Klasse of Cumberland, Wisc., tallying five birdies in the match while also closing out strong with four consecutive wins on Nos. 12-15.
Fleming, a former professional on the LPGA Tour, already has a USGA championship to her name as part of the New Jersey win in the 2013 Women's State Team Championship, but is thrilled with her performance so far at Waverley.
"This is the first time I've played in a USGA event and made it into the quarters, so I am absolutely ecstatic," said Fleming to the USGA following Tuesday's play. "I couldn't be happier and more proud. I managed to eke through my first round where i played a lot of terrible golf and then put together a great round this afternoon. I stopped playing my opponent and started playing the golf course."
Sherry Herman of Middletown, N.J., also made a strong run in the championship, qualifying for match play as the No. 8 seed and advancing to the Round of 16, where she was defeated 2-up by Judith Kyrinis of Canada. Adrienne MacLean of Basking Ridge, N.J., and Leeann Lewis of West Gilgo Beach, N.Y., also both advanced to match play, but were defeated in the Round of 64.