Brittany Lang is Record Medalist in U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links

Williamsburg, Va. – Brittany Lang, 18, McKinney, Texas, smashed the qualifying record by two strokes with a 36-hole score of 70-65—135 as medalist in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at the 6,159-yard, par 72 Green Course of Golden Horseshoe Golf Club.

Lang topped Jenna Pearson, 18, Wheaton, Ill., by two strokes. Pearson combined a 66 with her opening 71 to finish at 137.

Defending champion Michelle Wie, 14, Honolulu, Hawaii, was at six under par as she made the turn Wednesday but suffered a rare triple bogey on her 12th hole to finish at 70-71—141.

"I snap-hooked my drive," said Wie. "It was horrible. That triple was the most horrible hole I’ve had in a long time."

Wie’s ball landed behind a fallen tree on the 342-yard par four and she was forced to take a one-stroke penalty for an unplayable lie. She chipped out, hit a pitching wedge to within 15 feet of the hole and three-putted. She followed with a birdie on the next hole.

"I was pulling my tee shots after the front nine because I wasn’t swinging at it hard enough," she said. "I decided to really rip it on the next hole and I hit my second shot to within a foot of the hole."

Lang was excited about her record-breaking total. "It’s great," she said. "You want to be low. It usually gives you a good draw. I feel good about it because it’s what I wanted to do. I hit a lot of shots at the flag and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities.

Lang made eight birdies, including four in a row from the third hole through the sixth. Those putts ranged from two to eight feet. She birdied the 10th hole on a 25-foot putt and the 13th from 30 feet before making a four-footer at the 15th and a seven-footer at the 17th.

Lang’s total broke a qualifying record that stood for ten years. The former record of 137 was shared by Jill McGill (1994), Jenna Daniels (1999) and Jenna Pearson, who tied it barely one hour before Lang finished.

Pearson used strong iron play to record a second-round 66 and made seven birdies on the day.

Sixty-four players at five-over-par 149 made the cut. A record eleven players broke par. The previous record was five in 2000. Play was suspended because of lightning in the area at 3:45 p.m. and resumed an hour later.

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