Boutier outlasts Buhai in 28 holes in longest match in T-Mobile Match Play history
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — Celine Boutier outlasted Ashleigh Buhai on the 28th hole Saturday in the longest match in the five-year history of the T-Mobile Match Play, sending the Frenchwoman to quarterfinals.
The previous record was 22 holes, set twice.
Boutier faced Madelene Sagstrom later Saturday. Sagstrom also needed extended time, beating Carlota Ciganda in 19 holes.
Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul routed Nataliya Guseva 8 and 7. Thitikul is the only remaining player ranked in the top 10. Seven of the eight in the field were eliminated Friday on the final day of round-robin play, including No. 1 and defending champion Nelly Korda.
Thitikul, who is from Thailand, has maintained a relaxed attitude this week as she has dominated her competition at the treacherous Shadow Creek. She said he had “no idea” why she has played so well.
“Just trying to hit where my caddie wants me to go,” Thitikul said.
She will play Angel Yin, who beat Mao Saigo 3 and 2. No. 12 Yin, who is from Los Angeles, is the highest-ranked player besides Thitikul still in the tournament.
In the other round-of-16 matches, Stephanie Kyriacou edged A Lim Kim 2 and 1, Lauren Coughlin beat Sei Young Kim 2-up, Maja Stark easily defeated Canada’s Brooke Henderson 5 and 4, and Ariya Jutanugarn topped Narin An 1-up.
In the quarterfinals, Jutanugarn faced Stark, and Coughlin played Kyriacou.
Sei Young Kim and Henderson were the only players to not trail over the first three days and now they’re out of the Match Play.
“It is the hardest course in the world, probably,” Stark said. “It’s so firm, so fast, and there are so many times during these rounds where you just go, ‘Well, I can’t go toward the hole here.’ On chips even. You can be 10 metres from the pin, but still can’t go toward the pin. Yeah, just a little silly, but it’s a perfect match play course.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
