Jennifer Song wins US Women`s Amateur

St Louis: Jennifer Song became the second woman to win two US Golf Association championships in the same year, beating Jennifer Johnson 3 and 1 in the US Women`s Amateur final at Old Warson.

The 19-year-old Song, coming off her freshman year at Southern California, won the US Women`s Amateur Public Links winner in June and was the low amateur last month in the US Women`s Open. Born in Ann Arbor, Mich., she lives in South Korea. Pearl Sinn is the only other woman to win two USGA titles in a year, taking the 1988 Amateur and Public Links. Five men have accomplished the feat. "I can`t put into words how honored I am," Song said. "It`s been a long time since Pearl Sinn won two in one year in 1988, which is one year before I was even born."The 17-year-old Johnson, from La Quinta, Calif., will be a freshman at Arizona State. She hadn`t trailed at any point though her first five matches of the championship, and built a 4-up lead through the first 10 holes of the morning 18. She made three birdies and took advantage of Song`s bogey on the ninth hole. But Song didn`t get discouraged, thanks to positive words from her father Museok, serving as her caddie. "My dad kept telling me, `Jennifer, you`re going to win. You`re a great player,`" Song said. "Throughout the whole round he kept me in a positive mind and he kept making me smile." Song won the 11th and 12th with birdies and squared the match on No. 18 when Johnson three-putted for the second time in five holes. Johnson`s streak of never trailing ended after 95 holes when Song birdied the 19th to take a 1-up lead. Song birdied the next hole to build her lead to 2-up and made it 3-up when Johnson bogeyed the 27th hole. "I was actually kind of glad I got behind because then I could just get that out of my head and come back strong," Johnson said. That`s exactly what she did, winning three of the next four holes to square the match. Song then made a 7-footer for par on the 33rd hole to regain the lead and made it 2-up with a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 34. Song won when Johnson couldn`t get up and down from a greenside bunker on the par-3 35th. Song`s mother, Jeeyeon Koong, was at Old Warson after missing her daughter`s WAPL win at Red Tail Golf Club in Devens, Mass., in June. "It`s been a while since she`s seen me win and really hold on to the trophy and smile," Song said. "When I hugged my dad at the end, my tears weren`t out yet, but when I saw mom, you know that feeling when you see your mom. It`s your mom, so you just cry." When asked to compare her victory at the WAPL and the Women`s Amateur, Song was reluctant to name her favorite. "Both are very satisfying," Song said. "You cannot replace winning a championship, and both are very prestigious, so I`m very happy for it." Bureau Report