US pip South Korea, Spain to World Amateur Team Championships’ women’s title; S’pore in best finish

SINGAPORE – On a dramatic final day of the World Amateur Team Championships (WATC) women’s competition on Oct 4, the United States shot a collective five-under 139 in the final round to make up a three-shot deficit and win the Espirito Santo Trophy on a tiebreak.

Overnight leaders South Korea, with a final-round two-under 142, and Spain, with a closing 138, had formed a three-way tie with the Americans on 18-under 558 after four rounds at Tanah Merah Country Club’s Tampines Course.

Only the two best individual results from each side’s trio of golfers counted towards their team score for each day, with the tiebreak being the third individual result that was not counted.

Catherine Park’s successful eight-foot birdie putt on the 18th on Oct 4 was decisive as it dragged the Americans into an extension of the tiebreak.

In the final round, Park’s non-counting 71 matched Spaniard Carolina Lopez-Chacarra’s score, and so the third-round non-counting scores were activated.

And it was the Americans – comprising Megha Ganne, Farah O’Keefe and Park who nicked their 15th title, thanks to Ganne registering the lowest non-counting score in the third round.

Her even-par 72 pipped Spaniard Andrea Goicoechea (73) and South Korean Park Seo-jin (77) who had to be content with a shared silver for their countries.

Catherine, a 21-year-old senior from the University of Southern California, said: “I’m just so happy. It’s the pressure of making that eight-footer, and then knowing that we won was unbelievable. It has been a dream being here with them, winning this trophy.”

US coach Chris Zambri added: “I’m so happy for the girls. They all contributed big time. It was unbelievable the way each one of them played. It’s just amazing to watch these young people perform under pressure. You know, it’s a thrill.”

Meanwhile, Chen Xingtong (70, 286), Inez Ng (72, 294) and Valencia Chang (75, 296) – who recorded individual placings of tied-26th, tied-50th and tied-54th respectively – registered Singapore’s best result of tied-15th, alongside Ireland, with their one-under 575 total.

Their previous best was joint-20th in Abu Dhabi in 2023.

Xingtong, 16, said: “I’m pretty happy with that. I’m really grateful to have the home crowd following us throughout the third and last round. It’s really nice to be able to be at home and have people follow us.”

Singapore Golf Association (SGA) national coach Murray Smit praised the team’s effort. He believes the result signals continued progress for women’s golf in Singapore. It is also a confidence boost ahead of the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand.

“There’ll be things we obviously will look back on,” said the South African, “to improve on both as a team and individually, but to finish tied-15th is a massive effort from our girls.

“There were some tough stretches in there through the week, but as a team, they really dug in and fought hard, especially today, after a tough start.

“Finishing tied-15th is a massive step forward for Singapore women’s golf, and we can look to build from here in Morocco, hopefully, in two years’ time.”

China’s Xu Ying won the individual title with a 275 after a final-day 67, four shots ahead of the Philippines’ Rianne Malixi (70), Spain’s Paula Martin Sampedro and South Korean Oh Soo-min (both 69).

Hosted by the SGA and conducted by the International Golf Federation, the WATC is held biennially and is widely regarded as the pinnacle of amateur team golf. The men will compete for the Eisenhower Trophy at the same course from Oct 8 to 11.