Following the third round of the U.S. Women's Open a few weeks ago, most reporters and TV announcers in Kohler, Wisc., focused on familiar names such as Liselotte Neumann and Se Ri Pak. Largely ignored, just four strokes back from Pak, lurked a 20-year-old amateur whose name was familiar to college fans but certainly not the professional golfing world.
Things can sure change in a hurry; two days later, over 8,000 spectators cheered for the collegiate shot-by-shot as thousands more watched on TV.
Jenny Chuasiriporn's five-day run at the Open July 2-6 will long be remembered as one of the most remarkable performances by a Duke athlete on any stage during college.
The only thing missing was the fairy-tale finish.
Chuasiriporn and Pak, a 20-year-old rookie looking for her second-straight grand slam title, tied after four rounds and again remain deadlocked after an 18-hole playoff. Only a birdie putt on the second hole of sudden death separated the LPGA pro from the amateur, a Duke rising senior who succumbed by just one stroke.
Chuasiriporn is now a recognizable name in sporting circles, and she realizes that her life has changed.
"It's been quite a hectic week," Chuasiriporn said a few days after the playoff. "It's definitely different. My life has definitely changed. But it's not a bad thing at all. It's been great to see so many people come up to me and say how much they enjoyed it and how much they were pulling for me."
Indeed, soon after the tournament ended, Chuasiriporn was already receiving a million-dollar contract offer from an agent and doing a national teleconference with the press.
"We feel possessive of her," Duke women's golf coach Dan Brooks said. "It's a weird feeling to have all of a sudden the world just walk into our living room and kind of borrow Jenny for a while. It's like, wait a minute now, we were having a little family time and you came in and took her. That's a weird feeling.
"They've got her now. The public has her right now. I don't know if they're going to let her go for a while."
All of the attention began in earnest on the 18th hole of the fourth round. With so many golfers shooting over-par scores at the windy and difficult Blackwolf Run Resort, Chuasiriporn stayed near the top by shooting close to par the entire round.
But after moving in and out of the lead, Chuasiriporn picked up bogeys on both the 15th and 17th holes. Although she stayed in second place, the Timonium, Md., native was two shots back on the 18th when she stepped up to a 40-foot birdie putt on the green.
ABC's Johnny Miller called it a "1-in-100 putt." Others would later called it a putt for the ages. The ball traveled uphill and never veered off course before dropping in the middle
"It was so overwhelming after it went in," Chuasiriporn said after the round. "I just kind of turned to my brother and he was just delighted, almost in tears, so I couldn't really think straight at that point."
It took Chuasiriporn a while to realize that she had forced a playoff. Only after Pak bogeyed the 18th by missing an eight-foot putt a few minutes later did reality set in.
That night, Brooks gave his pupil a call and discussed the situation with her.
"I said, 'When you look over at that stoic face [of Pak], realize that she has all the nerves inside that anyone else has,'" Brooks said. '"And if you just keep being yourself and playing your game, that it's going to wear on her.
'"You've been wearing people down this whole tournament and you're going to wear her down. Don't get the idea when you see her that there's not a lot of churning going on inside.' That's exactly what I told her."
Chuasiriporn came out on fire in the 18-hole playoff. She chipped in on the first hole for birdie and also birdied on two and five to take an early four-stroke lead on Pak, who bogeyed the third.
But trouble struck on the par-three, 159-yard sixth hole. Chuasiriporn drove her tee shot into the bushes in front of the green, couldn't find the ball and had to drop a new one and take a one-stroke penalty. Though she didn't get worse than a bogey during the first four rounds, Chuasiriporn three-putted from 30 feet and settled for a triple bogey. Pak quickly moved to within just one shot.
"It was the right club," Chuasiriporn said. "The wind was swirling a little. I had a pretty good amount of distance but I just came completely over the top and that takes off at least a good 10 yards. I don't know if it was just a little lack of focus from the previous holes, but from then on it was a lot closer match."
After a bogey on nine, Chuasiriporn proceeded to par the next eight holes and approached the 18th tied with Pak at one over par.
When Pak hooked her tee shot on the par-four 18th to within inches of the water, Chuasiriporn, who hit a perfect drive, appeared to be in good shape. She hit her second shot into the third cut of rough just off the green and was in control as Pak stood in the lake and saved her second shot and then left her third 25 feet from the hole.
"I kind of turned to [my brother and caddie, Joey] on that fairway and said, 'This is really a weird feeling. This is to win the U.S. Open,'" Chuasiriporn said. "I was still pretty stressed and pretty nervous about the chip. It was relaxing to have him by my side.
"It was just a great feeling in general to have all of those people around. I was kind of putting it in perspective, what the next 10 minutes would be
Chuasiriporn chipped her third shot well past the hole and left herself with a 10-foot putt for the U.S. Open championship. The ensuing shot missed by half an inch to the right.
"My hands were shaking," she said. "That was the key putt probably. I think that was my big chance. It was the chip more or less too."
The close miss forced the first sudden death in the history of the Open. Both players parred the par-five 10th hole, with Chuasiriporn again mishitting a chip, this time leaving it 25 feet short of the hole.
Her run finally ended on the 11th, the second hole of sudden death. Chuasiriporn missed a 20-foot birdie putt. Pak had one from 18 and buried it.
"I'm really happy," Pak told reporters after the sudden death. "She is a really great player. I didn't give up, I just kept playing my game."
Chuasiriporn, meanwhile, had to deal with the disappointment at not winning coupled with the recognition that she played great golf.
"There was definitely disappointment," she said. "It'll probably be with me the rest of my life. I don't really regret anything or feel like I made wrong decisions."
What's next?
Chuasiriporn immediately headed to Minnesota the next day to join her U.S. teammates and begin preparation for the Curtis Cup, an amateur event. Despite repeated questions, Chuasiriporn made it clear that she will return to Duke in the fall, where she will "look forward to winning a national championship."
Duke's golf program certainly won as well, as the insignia on Chuasiriporn's shirt, the letters on her golf bag and the stuffed Blue Devils on her club covers brought stellar recognition to an already elite program.
It was a weekend that will not be forgotten for a long, long time.
"I don't know how it stacks up, but there are so many things about it that to me are almost unreal," Brooks said. "It doesn't quite feel like it can really happen in this world. If you know the history of this family, they came from nothing. For Jenny to work her way up to where she's 20 and almost winning the U.S. Open is just unbelievable. It's just a tremendous story."
Other notes:
Chuasiriporn was seeking to become the first amateur since 1967 to win the U.S. Open.
She also had the lowest amateur score at last year's Open, when she shot a 297 and finished in 52nd place.
Her four-round score of 290 was the lowest ever for an amateur.
This was the eighth playoff in Open history, the first since 1992, the second to involve an amateur and the first sudden death ever.
On campus, over 30 people gathered at the Duke Golf Course to watch the playoff on TV, while others watched the round downstairs in the Bryan Center.
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