[Photo: Darren Carroll/USGA]
Victoria’s Jazy Roberts will lead the Aussie charge into match play at the US Women’s Amateur Championship as the highest-seeded of the five Australians projected to advance at The Honors Course.
After opening with an even-par 72, Roberts (pictured) produced a 2-under 70 in the second round of stroke play qualifying to sit tied for eighth, comfortably inside the top-64 cut line.
The match-play seeds are yet to be confirmed, with several players still to complete their rounds on Thursday morning after a weather delay interrupted play on Wednesday.
Among those still to finish is Queenslander Amy Hodgkins, who currently sits tied for 28th at 2-over-par with two holes remaining after darkness brought her second round to a premature close.
Meanwhile, South Australian Raegan Denton and New South Wales duo Ella Scaysbrook and Rachel Lee have completed their qualifying rounds and are set to progress to match play, with Australia on track to have five players advance to the knockout stage for the first time since 2012.
For Denton, securing a place in match play appeared unlikely after an opening-round 5-over 77 left her tied for 97th, but the 47th-ranked amateur in the world responded in impressive fashion, firing a 2-under 70 to move to 3-over through 36 holes and climb into a share of 39th.
Scaysbrook also sits tied for 39th at 3-over after following her opening round 74 with a second round 73.
A semi-finalist at last year’s championship, Scaysbrook was level par through 32 holes before three consecutive bogeys late in her second round saw her slide down the leaderboard. However, after entering last year’s match play as the 63rd seed, she proved her ability to contend from any position by advancing to the final four.
A second-round 3-over 75 was enough for Lee to remain inside the projected cut line, sitting in a tie for 51st at 4-over-par.
At the top of the leaderboard, Japan’s Anna Iwanaga has completed 36 holes at 6-under-par and is tied with America’s Hailey Kim, who has two holes remaining.
With some players still having up to six holes to complete on Thursday morning, further leaderboard movement is expected before the top 64 and match-play seedings are confirmed.
Round 2 Australian scores
T8 Jazy Roberts; 72-70–142
T28 Amy Hodgkins; 2-over-par with two holes remaining
T39 Raegan Denton; 77-70–147
T39 Ella Scaysbrook; 74-73–147
T51 Rachel Lee; 73-75–148
T155 Sue Wooster; 86-87–173
