Arizona's O'Sullivan reaches U.S. Women's Amateur semifinals

Published Aug. 14, 2015 6:53 p.m. ET

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Hannah O'Sullivan made a 10-foot par putt on the 18th hole to beat SMU junior Lindsey McCurdy 1 up Friday in the U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinals.

Two holes down after 10 holes at Portland Golf Club, the 17-year-old O'Sullivan, from Chandler, Arizona, won the next four holes -- making three pars and a birdie on the par-4 14th -- to take a 2-up lead.

"I was getting a little frustrated out there, but I just had to collect myself and remember that it's only 2-down," O'Sullivan said. "There's so much golf left. It's really easy to turn a 2-down deficit around."

McCurdy, from Liberty Hill, Texas, won the par-4 16th with a par to pull within one, and halved the par-3 17th to keep the match alive. O'Sullivan holed the winning putt after running her 25-foot birdie attempt past the hole on the par-5 18th. She celebrated with three fist pumps

"Inside, I'm really very competitive, and I guess I showed it a little bit there," O'Sullivan said. "I really wanted to make that putt and just see it go in. It meant so much."

After O'Sullivan took the par-4 second with a par, McCurdy tied it with a par on par-4 seventh and won the par-3 eighth and par-5 10th with pars to open the 2-up lead.

O'Sullivan, also a semifinalist last year, won the Symetra Tour's Gateway Classic in February at 16 to become the youngest winner in the history of the professional circuit. In May, she teamed with Robynn Ree to finish second in the inaugural U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball at Bandon Dunes.

O'Sullivan will face 17-year-old Mathilda Cappeliez of France, a 5-and-4 winner over Tennessee sophomore Anna Newell of Tampa, Florida. Cappeliez is attempting to join 1969 winner Catherine Lacoste as the only French champions.

"I played solid golf and that was enough to win," Cappeliez said. "I made some up-and-downs. I was twice in the bunkers, but I was always close to the holes, so that was easy. She (had) no birdies, so that was quite tough for her."

In the other quarterfinals, 17-year-old Sierra Brooks of Sorrento, Florida, beat UCLA junior Bronte Law of England 5 and 3; and 18-year-old UCLA freshman Bethany Wu of Diamond Bar, California, topped 16-year-old Mika Liu of Los Angeles 5 and 4.

Brooks and Wu are close friends.

"Anything can happen in match play, but if either one of us would win our match tomorrow, I'd be happy for both of us," Brooks said.