Cathrea Come-Back Attempt Thwarted at National Tournament

Casie Cathrea didn’t so much lose her match Thursday at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship as Ashlan Ramsey won it.

Trailing by four holes after 10 holes of play at Olympia Fields Country Club, Cathrea could have wilted under the hot Illinois sun. After all, the thermometer had reached 99 degrees and the heat index was well in excess of 100.

Instead, the 15-year-old from Livermore made a strong comeback, cutting Ramsey’s lead to just one after the 15th hole. Cathrea appeared on the verge of squaring the match on No. 16, when she nearly drove the green on the 312-yard, par-4 hole. But Ramsey, a 15-year-old from Milledgeville, Ga., chipped onto the green, then made a curving 30-foot birdie putt.

“I was thinking she was going to make her putt, so I pretty much knew I had to make it to keep the momentum my way,” Ramsey said. “Obviously, I did.”

Cathrea just missed a slightly shorter birdie putt, and suddenly Ramsey was back up by two holes with two to play.

“She was making some good putts, making some good shots, getting up and down from everywhere,” Cathrea said. “I just didn’t have it in me today, I guess.”

On 17, Cathrea put her drive into the left rough, leaving her little room for error to clear a stand of trees and get to the green. Using a 6 iron, she hit a low shot that did catch a few leaves, but that turned out to be a good thing, slowing down the ball slightly. It sill went at least 40 feet past the pin. Ramsey, meanwhile, drove the fairway, but left her second shot just short and to the right of the green.

“I knew I just had to par that hole and it should be good enough,” Ramsey said.

After Cathrea rolled her birdie try just wide of the hole, Ramsey made a brilliant chip shot, leaving her within a foot of the cup. Cathrea calmly sank a four-foot putt for par, then conceded the putt and match to Ramsey.

Ramsey keeps her cool

As she had the previous day, Cathrea won the first hole of the match, but after a bogey on No. 6, the hole that was her nemesis all week, Cathrea was down two. Ramsey’s lead grew to four after Cathrea bogeyed the 10th hole, but the Georgian was never overconfident or pessimistic.

“She, on No. 11, could drive the green, so I was preparing myself for that,” Ramsey said. “I knew she was going to win that hole. Then she made some really good par saves and a birdie on 14. But I just knew I was hitting the ball well, and I kept doing my thing, and knew it would happen.”

Ramsey continued her strong play in her next match against Karen Chung of Livingston, N.J., taking the former runner-up in this tournament to the 18th green before finally losing.

Cathrea obviously was disappointed with Thursday’s loss, but she could look back at her tournament effort with some satisfaction, particularly the even-par 144 she shot over 36 holes of stroke play Monday and Tuesday.

“I think I played pretty good, even though I didn’t win today,” she said. “I did stroke play really well. I got in front of some people I wanted to be in front of it.”

The only person she didn’t get in front of during stroke play was Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, the No. 1 ranked junior player in the world.

Cathrea will be home for a week before returning to the Midwest to play in the Junior PGA Championship in Fort Wayne, Ind.