2006 Runner-up Schultz Defeats Medalist Moore To Advance To Quarterfinals

Sunriver, Ore. – Anna Schultz, of Rockwall, Texas, the 2006 runner-up, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2007 USGA Senior Amateur Championship by ousting medalist Patty Moore, of Charlotte, N.C., 1 up, in the third round of match play at Sunriver Resort’s 5,975-yard Meadows Course.

In a re-match of the 2006 quarterfinals, Schultz, who was also the runner-up at the 2000 Women’s Mid-Amateur, was down one through six holes.  She then won three of the next five holes to take 3-up lead that she held through 15 holes in a well-played match.

Anna Schultz advanced to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. She was the runner-up in 2006. (Robert Walker/USGA)

Moore, a three-time Carolinas Player of the Year, challenged by winning the 16th with a par and the 17th with a birdie to cut Schultz’s lead to 1 up. The match ended when both players parred the 18th.

For the match, Schultz was 1-under-par with the usual match play concessions with three birdies and two bogeys and Moore was 1-over with two birdies and three bogeys.

Earlier in the day, Schultz had defeated Holly Horwood, of Canada, 5 and 4, in the second round. Schultz plays Madelaine Campbell, 57, of Newport Beach, Calif.

"It was who was going to make a mistake and who was going to make a birdie,” Schultz said. “We both made birdies and we didn’t make too many mistakes.”

Schultz, who is a self-employed CPA, complemented her opponent’s strong play but realized one part of her game was critical in her victory.

"My irons were awesome (Tuesday),” she said. “They are usually the weak part of my game but my irons were right at the flag. It was amazing.”

Moore was vying to become just the second medalist to win the championship, which Carol Semple Thompson did in 2002

Fast-approaching thunderstorms caused play to be suspended during the morning second round for two hours and two minutes.

The 2005 and 2006 champion Diane Lang, 52, of Weston, Fla., took two more steps in defense of her title with a 4-and-3 win over Joan Higgins, of Glendora, Calif, in the second round and then a drawn-out 1-up win over 2004 champion Carolyn Creekmore in the third round (see related story on www.seniorwam.org).

The Jamaican-born Lang is vying to become just the sixth player to win three Senior Women’s Amateurs. She meets Noreen Mohler, 53, of Bethlehem, Pa., in the quarterfinals. Mohler, a 1978 USA Curtis Cup Match team members, defeated Natalie Easterly, of Richmond, Va., 1 up.

Four-time winner Semple Thompson, 58, of Sewickley, Pa., was knocked out in the third round by Lisa Smego, 51, of Olympia, Wash., 1 up. Semple Thompson was playing in her 106th USGA championship.

Smego holed out from the fairway on the par-5 2nd hole for an eagle, which she called “a stroke of luck” and took a lead over Semple Thompson that she never relinquished.

"It’s special,” Smego said of defeating Semple Thompson. “She is such a wonderful person. It’s kind of hard to want to beat her. But, it’s a good boost to my confidence to beat a woman as prestigious as Carol Semple Thompson.”

Smego faces Robyn Puckett, 60, of Irvine, Calif. and Beatriz Arenas, 59, of Guatemala, plays Tanna Lee Richard, 50, of Fort Smith, Ark. in the other quarterfinal matches.

Mary Budke, 53, of Eugene, the only remaining player from the state of Oregon was eliminated in the second round. Budke, an emergency room doctor is the 1972 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and past Curtis Cup player.

Match play continues with the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds on Wednesday and concludes with Thursday’s final.

All quarterfinalists are exempt from qualifying for the 2008 championship at Tulsa Country Club.

Story written by Pete Kowalski, USGA Media Relations. E-mail him with questions and comments at pkowalski@usga.org.

Sunriver, Ore. – Results from Tuesday’s second and third rounds of match play at the 2007 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship played at the 5,975-yard, par-71 Sunriver Resort’s Meadows Course:

Second Round Results

Upper Bracket

Patty Moore, Charlotte, N.C.  (145) def. Reggie Parker, Hobe Sound, Fla.  (158), 3 and 2

Anna Schultz, Rockwall, Texas  (154) def. Holly Horwood, Canada  (161), 5 and 4

Madelaine Campbell, Newport Beach, Calif.  (156) def. Terry Mayes, Gilroy, Calif.  (150), 4 and 3

Angela Stewart, Greenville, N.C.  (161) def. Lynda Palahniuk, Canada    (155), 2 and 1

Cecilia Mourgue D'Algue, France  (147) def. Patricia French, Tulsa, Okla.  (157), 6 and 4

Tanna Lee Richard, Fort Smith, Ark.  (161) def. Anne Zahn, Minnetonka Beach, Minn.  (155), 4 and 2

Ann Laughlin, Plantation, Fla.  (149) def. Gail Burden, Winfield, Kan.  (159), 7 and 6

Beatriz Arenas, Guatemala  (152) def. Christine Giza, Gilbert, Ariz.  (160), 5 and 4

Lower Bracket

Toni Wiesner, Fort Worth, Texas  (146) def. Deborah Anderson, Rancho Mirage, Calif.  (158), 3 and 2

Robyn Puckett, Irvine, Calif.  (154) def. Mary Budke, Eugene, Ore.  (155), 1 up

Lisa Smego, Olympia, Wash.  (156) def. Lou Hart, Meridian, Miss.  (150), 5 and 3

Carol Semple Thompson, Sewickley, Pa.  (151) def. Connie Shorb, York, Pa.  (159), 1up

Carolyn Creekmore, Dallas, Texas  (147) def. Joan Garety, Ada, Mich.  (157), 2 and 1

Diane Lang, Jamaica  (153) def. Joan Higgins, Glendora, Calif.  (155), 4 and 3

Natalie Easterly, Richmond, Va.  (159) def. Sandy Woodruff, Santa Cruz, Calif.  (149), 1 up

Noreen Mohler, Bethlehem, Pa.  (152) def. Nancy Smith, North Port, Fla.  (160), 4 and 3

Third Round Results

Upper Bracket

Schultz def. Moore, 1 up

Campbell def. Stewart, 2 and 1

Richard def. Mourgue D’Algue, 2 up

Arenas vs. Laughlin, 21 holes

Lower Bracket

Puckett def. Wiesner, 3 and 2

Smego def. Semple Thompson, 1 up

Lang def. Creekmore, 1 up

Mohler def. Easterley, 1 up

Sunriver, Ore. – Pairings for Wednesday’s quarterfinal round of match play at the 2007 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship played at the 5,975-yard, par-71 Sunriver Resort’s Meadows Course (all times Pacific):

Upper Bracket

8:00 a.m. -- Anna Schultz, Rockwall, Texas  (154) vs. Madelaine Campbell, Newport Beach, Calif.  (156)

8:10 a.m. -- Tanna Lee Richard, Fort Smith, Ark.  (161) vs. Beatriz Arenas, Guatemala  (152)

Lower Bracket

8:20 a.m. -- Robyn Puckett, Irvine, Calif.  (154) vs. Lisa Smego, Olympia, Wash.  (156)

8:30 a.m. -- Diane Lang, Jamaica  (153) vs. Noreen Mohler, Bethlehem, Pa.  (152)