Getty Images
Irish aficionado Áine Donegan was putting Cinderella to the top of the leaderboard at the US Women’s Open.
Until I got to one of the most famous holes of Pebble Beach.
Donegan, an LSU junior, opened her third LPGA major of the year as a surprise contender after a 69 on Thursday that put her in the lead in a tie for third. She backed up only slightly at the end of her second innings on Friday and scored 76, but was still the lowest of the four amateurs to make the cut at one point.
Perhaps even more impressive is that she did so with so many alternative clubs after that Her sticks arrived too late. with some destruction by airlines.
On Saturday I started with a hop, expertly dodging trouble on the first when I made a low cut from right trees to just six feet.
She added more birdies on 4th and 6 and suddenly came back in the tie for fifth on second under. Donegan appeared to be in trouble again after her tee shot bounced over the standing seventh green and came to rest on the back lip of a bunker.
The 21-year-old, who grew up playing Lahinch, one of Ireland’s best courses, tackled the awkward pitch with a split across the green and then smashed into the 10-foot par.
However, it only took Donegan one hole on Saturday to see how Pebble’s iconic stretch of 8′, 9′ and 10′ earned the nickname “Death Cliffs”.
After putting up her passer tee on the dramatic par-4 8, Donegan rolled a terrifying second putt playing a 100-plus-yard chasm into the Pacific. Even playing downwind, but the pace off the left, towards the perimeter, the eighth was the hardest hole of the course during the third round and up until that point he hadn’t given up a birdie.
From 190 yards, Donegan took her swing and watched helplessly as her ball caught the wind and kept sailing farther and farther to the right. It landed to the right of the green bunker and disappeared into Carmel Bay.
From the drop zone, which made a similar shot, it was no less intimidating but from 175, her fourth shot was no better. This time she bounced her ball around the danger line but slid into the rocks again.
“Just a shock to the system,” NBC Sports’ Dan Hicks said on the telecast.
“It’s really shrinking,” analyst Morgan Pressel added.
Donegan’s third attempt, her sixth shot, finally made it across the straights but stopped just short of the green. After the chip and two strikes, the Momentum 9 was a smash for the young amateur.
“She really needs to settle down here,” said Pressell, while Donegan tried to limit the damage to just 8. “This is when everything starts to go faster. You start walking faster. Hit the ball faster. Your brain starts moving a million miles an hour.”
Donegan settled in and rebounded with Bars on the tough ninth and 10th holes, eventually making her fourth birdie of the day in the 15th to bring her to three in the championship and back into the top 20.