Blumenherst cruises into semis at U.S. Women's Amateur

Golf Betting Lines

08/08/2008 - Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amanda Blumenherst was four-under par through nine holes and that helped her cruise to a 4 & 3 win over Carlota Ciganda in Friday's quarterfinals at the 108th U.S. Women's Amateur at Eugene Country Club.

Blumenherst will face high school sophomore Erynne Lee, who handled Chelsea Stelzmiller, 4 & 3.

The other semifinal match will pair two Spaniards, Azahara Munoz and Belen Mozo. Munoz routed Stephanie Na, who was the co-stroke play medalist with Blumenherst.

Munoz won that match 7 & 6, while Mozo rolled to a 6 & 5 win over Whitney Neuhauser.

Blumenherst won the first with a birdie after Ciganda, the 2007 Ladies' British Open Amateur winner, missed a birdie putt of her own. Blumenherst ran off three straight birdies from the seventh to make the turn with 4-up lead.

"I always expect my competitor to make the putt and I'm going to have to make it to halve. So when she missed it, I thought the door opened and I was able to keep it going from there," said Blumenherst of her win at the first.

Blumenherst, the NCAA Player of the Year, birdied the 13th to push her lead to 5-up, but she bogeyed the next. Ciganda and Blumenherst parred the 15th giving the Duke standout the win.

"I rolled the ball really well," Blumenherst stated. "I was hitting my drives in the middle of the fairway and sticking them close. So it was just solid golf."

Lee made the turn with a 1-up lead as Stelzmiller bogeyed the ninth. Lee won the next three holes to push her lead to 4-up and closed with match with an up-and-down par on the 15th.

Munoz won the first two holes, then took the fifth with a par. She ran off three straight wins from No. 7 to head to the back nine 6-up. Na bogeyed the 11th to fall 7-down and the match was over when both players parred the 12th.

Mozo, the 2006 Ladies British Open Amateur champ, took a 1-up lead with a par on the third. A par on the eighth gave her a 2-up lead and set up a run of five wins in the next six holes as she closed the match with a birdie on the par-five 13th.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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