Jennifer Kupcho loses a little ground, but her best finish in a U.S. Women’s Open still very much in reach; Coloradan Shane Bertsch in second at PGA Tour Champions event
By Gary Baines – 6/5/2021
There is no LPGA Tour event that Jennifer Kupcho has played more than the U.S. Women’s Open.
She’s competing in the tournament for the fifth time, so she’s seen a little of everything. The Colorado native has played the event twice as an amateur and three times as a pro. In fact, she made the 2019 edition her pro debut.
The 2020 CoBank Colorado Women’s Open champion missed the cut her first try (2016), but has made it to the weekend in each of her last four Women’s Opens. She’s made a hole-in-one in the event (on Friday at The Olympic Club in San Francisco) and also has carded some big numbers.
And on Saturday, the former longtime Westminster resident experienced all sorts of things in a single round. She made as many non-pars as she did pars. She carded three birdies, five bogeys, a double bogey and nine pars.
At the end of the day, it added up to 4-over-par 75 for Kupcho on moving day, virtually eliminating her chances for winning on Sunday, but leaving a very real opportunity for her best finish in the Women’s Open. Her 5-over-par 218 total put her in a tie for 23rd place going into Sunday’s final round.
Kupcho’s best showing to date at the U.S. Women’s Open is 21st as an amateur in 2017.
Meanwhile, the other player with strong Colorado ties who made the cut this week, former University of Colorado golfer Jenny Coleman, likewise lost some ground on Saturday. Coleman backed up scores.of 73-73 with a 5-over-par 76. She was 6 over par through her first eight holes of round 3, but went 1 under the rest of the way to check in at 9-over 222, leaving her in 49th place.
Here are the scores at the U.S. Women’s Open for a half-dozen players who have some tie to Colorado:
23. Jennifer Kupcho (Colorado born and raised) 70-73-75–218
23. Matilda Castren (qualified in Colorado) 74-71-73–218
40. Yealimi Noh (runner-up in 2019 CoBank Colorado Women’s Open) 76-69-76—221
49. Former CU golfer Jenny Coleman 73-73-76—222
Missed 36-Hole Cut
Louise Stahle (qualified in Colorado) 79-78—157
Amateur Leigha Devine of Windsor 86-78–164
For all the scores from The Olympic Club, CLICK HERE.
Elsewhere in major tour golf for players with strong Colorado connections:
— Shane Bertsch of Parker, looking for his second PGA Tour Champions victory in less than a year, shares second place after Saturday’s second round of the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Iowa.
The former Colorado Open champion has posted back-to-back 67s to stand at 10-under-par 134, four back of leader Tim Herron going into Sunday’s final 18. On Saturday, Bertsch went bogey-free. (SCORES)
— On the Korn Ferry Tour’s REX Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C., former Air Force Academy golfer and Fort Collins resident Tom Whitney finds himself in fifth place after Saturday’s third round.
At 15 under par (67-67-64), Whitney trails the three co-leaders by two. (SCORES)