McDonald Advances to Second Round of USGA Amateur Championship

August 6, 2014

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – As it turned out, Ally McDonald didn’t need 18 holes of golf to advance at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Just 17.

(HailState.com)

The rising senior from Fulton, Miss., turned back LSU’s Carly Ray Goldstein Wednesday at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y., 2 & 1, to advance to Thursday’s second round, which now features a field of 32 players.

At 9 a.m. CT, she’ll face Korea’s Eunjeong Seong, who knocked off Elizabeth Doty of the United States.

But to get to Thursday for the second year in a row, McDonald had to first survive a tightly-contested showdown with her SEC counterpart.

The two standouts were tied after 13 holes. But on No. 14, McDonald took the lead for good with a short birdie before taking advantage of a bogey by Goldstein on 15 to go up two en route to the win.

As a result, she finds herself in the same position she was a year ago, where she lost on the 19^th hole.

“On 14, I had an easy birdie putt and she left hers short, and that was the turning point,” McDonald said. “I was in this same position last year and just came up short. I just have to go out and play my game.”