STANFORD, Calif. – Incoming freshman Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, California, reached the finals of the 68th U.S. Girls' Junior Championship on Saturday but succumbed to Eun Jeong Seong of South Korea, 4 and 2, in the 36-hole match at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey.
Lee, 17, advanced to the finals by beating stroke play co-medalist Hye-Jin Choi of South Korea, 1-up, in the semifinals on Friday with clutch birdies at 17 and 18.
Lee, who played for the U.S. Curtis Cup team last month in Ireland, got off to a strong start against Seong in the morning round by winning six of the first 11 holes to forge a 5-up lead. She recorded six birdies and held a 3-up advantage at the lunch break.
But Song won three of the first five holes in the afternoon to even the match, then rolled in a short birdie putt at the 29th hole to secure her first lead in the back-and-forth battle. At the par-5 30th, Seong hit the pin with her third shot from 42 yards and the ball dropped into the hole for an eagle.
"I think that might have been the turning point," said Lee. "I tried to get back in it, birdied the next hole, but she matched it. She just made the putts that she need to, and I didn't."
It marked the third time Lee has advanced to the quarterfinals.
In 2014, Lee was a semifinalist in the U.S. Women's Amateur, where she beat Seong, 2 and 1 in the quarterfinals.
Lee's second-place showing Sunday earned an exemption to the 2016 U.S. Women's Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pennsylvania, Aug. 1-7. She will compete for 2015 NCAA champion and 2016 NCAA runner-up Stanford this fall.
