<p>PORTMARNOCK, IRELAND - JUNE 27: Anna Foster of Ireland tees off during day four of the Women's Amateur Championship at Portmarnock Golf Club on June 27, 2024 in Portmarnock, Ireland. (Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)</p>
Elm Park's Anna Foster defied winds gusting over 35 mph and dumped out Sweden's Meja Ortengren with a sensational par save at the 19th to move into Friday's quarter-finals of the Women's Amateur Championship at Portmarnock.
On a day when the world's best amateurs struggled to deal with the high west wind and world number one and title favourite Lottie Woad crashed out to Denmark's Marie Eline Madsen in the last 16, Foster (22) kept the home flag flying with two gusty victories.
In the second round, where Douglas' Sara Byrne struggled like the rest of the field in the wind and lost 4&2 to last year's runner-up Annabelle Pancake of the US, Auburn University graduate Foster hung tough.
She produced some sensational golf down the stretch to beat Iceland's Andrea Bergsdottir 2&1, coming back from one down at the turn and all square with three to play to win on the 17th after she followed key par saves at the 13th and 14th with wins at the 15th and 16th to go two-up.
She closed out that match with a par at the 17th, and her play down the stretch gave her momentum for her clash with world number nine Ortengren, who was second to Woad in qualifying.
The Swede was two up after nine holes, but Foster remained patient and went birdie-par-birdie from the 12th to claim the lead.
Ortengren won the 16th with a conceded birdie after Foster's third shot left under a gorse bush.
But while the Dubliner lost the 17th to a par, she won the 18th with a bogey five to take the match to extra holes and closed it out with a brilliant, par-saving chip to two feet at the 19th after Ortengren took four to find the green.
"It was so tough today; you just really had to stay so positive, and you couldn't really get down on yourself because every shot was such a tough shot," a relieved Foster said.
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"You just didn't know what was going to happen, so I'm just really glad with the way I stuck in there and never really gave up."
She felt her win over Bergsdottir gave her "a little bit of momentum" for the afternoon and while she trailed at the turn, she knew she was still in the match.
"I tried to stay patient and just knew that putts were going to drop for me at some point," she said.
Mallow's James Sugrue won the men's Amateur Championship at Portmarnock in 2019 but Foster is not allowing herself to think of winning just yet
"This is my last year of amateur golf, so I'm just trying to enjoy it as much as I can," she said. "I'm not really thinking about (winning); I'm just trying to take it literally one shot at a time."
She faces a tough quarter-final against Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist, who will join her in next week's Arnold Palmer Cup at Lahinch
Rydvist (22), who was runner-up in the 2022 Women's Amateur and a member of the Swedish Team that won the World Amateur Team Championship that year, beat Huai-Chien Hsu 7&6 after the Chinese Taipei talent had beaten world number four Rachel Kuehn 6&5 in the second round.
The winner will face Scot Lorna McClymont, a two-time Flogas Irish Women's Amateur Open winner, or France's Ines Archer.
At the top of the draw, Madsen takes on Pancake after her shock win over Woad.
"I don't think I've ever played in weather so bad," the Dane said. "But it was fun. Like, a great challenge."
The winner will take on American Melanie Green or Paula Schulz-Hanssen from Germany.
The Women's Amateur Championship, Portmarnock GC
Saturday's quarter-finals
08:15 Marie Eline Madsen (Denmark) v Annabelle Pancake (USA)
08:25 Melanie Green (USA) v Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Germany)
08:35 Anna Foster (Elm Park) v Louise Rydqvist (Sweden
08:45 Ines Archer (France) v Lorna McClymont (Scotland)
(Semi-finals from 1 pm)
Article Link: Anna Foster beats high winds to reach quarter-finals of Women's Amateur after 19th hole win - News - Irish Golf Desk