Golfweek - Golf News Magazine

By SEAN MARTIN
Assistant Editor

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – Mary Michael Maggio said she’s got a better chance of making a 3-pointer than a 3-footer.

Not Wednesday. She sank birdie putts of 5 and 10 feet on the final two holes of her second-round match at the U.S. Girls’ Junior to beat one of the best players in the field, Courtney Ellenbogen, 1 up.

Maggio beat Lindy Duncan, a semifinalist at last year's U.S. Women’s Amateur, in the first round.


Maggio got started in golf after going 6-for-6 from the 3-point line in a youth basketball game.

“The other team said, ‘Whatever, go play golf,’ ” she said. “One of the girls I looked up to was on that team, and I lived on a golf course, so I had to go play golf.”

Ellenbogen entered this week with two AJGA victories this season – including a five-shot win at the Rolex Tournament of Champions. She missed the cut by just a shot at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Alexis Thompson, bidding to become the youngest champion in tournament history, also lost, 3 and 2, to Stephanie Kono. Jane Rah, Taylore Karle, Lindy Duncan and Ha Na Jang were other big names that lost in the first round earlier Wednesday at Tacoma Country & Golf Club.

Maggio, No. 48 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, will have an even bigger task in a third-round meeting of exponential nicknames.

M-cubed, meet K-squared.

Maggio, a dominant force in Arkansas junior golf, will face Kimberly Kim, the medalist this week and defending U.S. Women’s Amateur champion.

Kim fell behind in both her matches Tuesday, but won decisively. She was 2 down to Amy Ruengmateekhun after two holes in the day’s first match, but won, 4 and 3. Kim closed out the match with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15.

Tessa Teachman – who upset Taylore Karle in the first round – birdied the first three holes to go 3 up on Kim in the second round. But Kim won the next four holes and never trailed the rest of the match. Kim, who made 17 birdies in the 36 holes of stroke play, birdied Nos. 5, 6, 9, 10 and 15 to win, 5 and 3.

“They say I bring out the best in everyone,” Kim said. “When I get behind, I don’t worry. I just think, ‘Oh, you’re going to lose,’ so I try my best.”

Maggio doesn’t have that kind of pessimistic outlook about tomorrow’s matchup.

“We’re both going to step on the first tee all square, so who knows what could happen,” Maggio said. “We both made the cut and won two matches to get where we’re going. There’s probably going to be more people watching, but it’ll be fun.”

Maggio has been the Arkansas girls’ play of the year the past three years. She's won the past two state junior match plays and won the stroke-play title in 2004 and 2005 before finishing runner-up in 2006. Maggio also won the 2006 state high school title.

She's also finished in the top 10 in all four AJGA starts this year, including a T-9 at the Rolex Girls’ Junior Championship and a win two weeks ago in her last start – the Valero Texas Open Junior Shootout.

Her strong play has convinced her to give up basketball and focus on golf, even though she went 6-for-6 from 3-point range in another game this year.

“I’m slow, and you don’t have to run in golf,” she said. “I was one of those kids who could sling it from the hip and just throw it up from anywhere and it’d probably go in.”

She could use that kind of accuracy tomorrow against Kimberly Kim.

• • •

Sean Martin is a Golfweek assistant editor. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com</a>.

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Scores from the second round of match play at the U.S. Girls' Junior, played July 25 at the par-72, 6,391-yard Tacoma Country & Golf Club in Lakewood, Wash.:

SECOND ROUND Kimberly Kim def. Tessa Teachman 5 and 3 Mary Michael Maggio def. Courtney Ellenbogen 1 up Stephanie Kono def. Alexis Thompson 3 and 2 Maria Uribe def. Anne Ormson 7 and 5 Kristen Park def. Brittany Altomare 21 holes Stacey Kim def. Suzie Lee 4 and 3 Haley Sanders def. Katie Sylvan 2 and 1 Tessa The def. Elyse Okada 19 holes Sarah Brown def. Lila Barton 1 up Demi Frances Runas def. Abby Cotter 6 and 4 Mitsuki Katahira def. Danielle Kang 1 up Michelle Shin def. Cyna Marie Rodriguez 1 up Mina Harigae def. Jennifer Song 4 and 3 Ayaka Kaneko def. Wonjoo Choi 4 and 3 Tiffany Lua def. Sally Watson 5 and 3 Sue Kim def. Danielle Frasier 2 and 1 FIRST ROUND Kimberly Kim def. Amy Ruengmateekhun 4 and 3 Tessa Teachman def. Taylore Karle 2 and 1 Courtney Ellenbogen def. Maria Ronderos 5 and 4 Mary Michael Maggio def. Lindy Duncan 2 and 1 Alexis Thompson def. Brittany Henderson 5 and 4 Stephanie Kono def. Stephanie Kim 1 up Anne Ormson def. Tzu-Chi Lin 2 and 1 Maria Uribe def. Sorelle Sedej 4 and 2 Kristen Park def. Margarita Ramos 4 and 3 Brittany Altomare def. Diane Kwon 20 holes Stacey Kim def. Becca Huffer 2 up Suzie Lee def. Jennifer Hirano 4 and 2 Katie Sylvan def. Evan Jensen 1 up Haley Sanders def. Cassandra Blaney 2 and 1 Tessa The def. Jane Rah 5 and 3 Elyse Okada def. Cheyenne Hickle 4 and 2 Sarah Brown def. Ha Na Jang 5 and 4 Lila Barton def. Kiara Hayashida 5 and 3 Abby Cotter def. Madison Pressel 19 holes Demi Frances Rumas def. Kristen Schelling 2 and 1 Danielle Kang def. Jennifer Johnson 1 up Mitsuki Katahira def. Alexandra Groetsema 2 and 1 Michelle Shin def. Hunter Ross 3 and 2 Cyna Marie Rodriguez def. Alison Lee 1 up Mina Harigae def. Jaclyn Jansen 6 and 4 Jennifer Song def. Shanshan Feng 7 and 6 Ayaka Kaneko def. Felicia Espericueta 2 and 1 Wonjoo Choi def. Kristina Wong 4 and 3 Sally Watson def. Karisa Akin 2 and 1 Tiffany La def. Cyd Okino 3 and 2 Sue Kim def. Ashley Edwards 5 and 4 Danielle Frasier def. Jessica Wallace 3 and 2

• • •

Click here for stroke-play qualifying results.




Posted: 7/25/2007

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