Triangle Sports Roundup: Blue Devils women’s golf highlighted in international play

Lindy Brown, Duke Sports Information
Lindy Brown, Duke Sports Information

RALEIGH, N.C.Duke Blue Devils golfers Virginia Elena Carta and Jaravee Boonchant headline recent women’s golf news from the Triangle as each registered match play victories at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship on Wednesday.

The event being played at the San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif. moved into the round of 32 which will resume Thursday as Carta will take on 12th-seeded Karen Miyamoto and Boonchant will face 10th-seeded Lauren Stephenson.

Live Scoring: 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship

More Blue Devils on the tee box

With rounds of 70 and 75 over the final two days of play at the 2017 Ricoh Women’s British Open, Blue Devils senior Leona Maguire placed tied 49th with a three-under-par, 285, at Kingsbarns Golf Links in Fife, Scotland.

In-Kyung Kim won her first major championship with an 18-under-par, 270.

Hailing from Cavan, Ireland and not a stranger to links golf, Maguire registered the second-best amateur finish of the event behind Sophie Lamb, who carded a six-under, 282, to finish T30.

Maguire posted rounds of 69, 71, 70 and 75 through the tournament.

Having placed T25 and T49 in each of the last two British Open Championships, the experience should further strengthen her play coming into her final year at Duke in ACC and NCAA play.

Lang selected to fifth Solheim Cup squad

Following completion of the Ricoh British Open, United States captain Juli Inkster announced the remaining selections for the 2017 Solheim Cup, which will take place Aug. 18-20 at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Former Duke University two-time All-America Brittany Lang earned an automatic selection with 247 points accumulated through her play this season.

Lang, a 2004 and 2005 All-America at Duke, will compete in her fifth straight Solheim Cup, and owns a 5-6-3 overall record in the competition.

The 2016 U.S. Women’s Open champion, Lang has made over six million in earnings since her rookie seasons on the LPGA in 2006.

Along with Lang, Inkster announced the rest of the 2017 United States squad that included Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller, Cristie Kerr, Jessica Korda, Danielle Kang, Michelle Wie, Brittany Linciome, Lizette Salas, Austin Ernst and Angel Yin.

Notes: Inkster subsequently announced on Tuesday that six-time USA Solheim Cup veteran Paula Creamer would replace the injured Korda. Inkster chose Creamer as her alternate when she selected her team on Sunday night and informed the European team as required by the captain’s agreement. However, she did not publicly reveal her choice until after Korda withdrew on Monday due to a forearm injury.