Kaneko, 15, advances
at Women’s Amateur

ROSWELL, Ga. » Ayaka Kaneko of Honolulu beat Ya-Ni Tseng 4 and 3 yesterday to advance to the second round of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship.

Kaneko, the 15th seed, faces 18th-seeded Paige Mackenzie of Yakima, Wash., this morning on the Ansley Golf Club's Settindown Creek course in suburban Atlanta. The winner advances to this afternoon's round of 16, possibly facing second-seeded Ashley Knoll of The Woodlands, Texas.

The quarterfinals will be held tomorrow, the semifinals Saturday and the 36-hole final Sunday.

Despite a bogey on the opening hole, Kaneko was able to open a 1-up lead when Tseng, who defeated Hawaii's Michelle Wie last year in the final of the Women's Amateur Public Links, double-bogeyed.

Kaneko extended her lead to 4-up with a birdie on No. 3 and pars on Nos. 6 and 8.

The Honolulu 15-year-old didn't win a hole after that, but matched Tseng every step of the way and closed out the match in 15 holes.

Mackenzie, Kaneko's next opponent, is a 22-year-old senior who plays for the University of Washington. The NCAA honorable-mention All-American defeated Huskies teammate Amber Prange yesterday in 19 holes despite trailing 6 down at the turn and 4 down with five holes left.

Others winning yesterday were defending champion Jane Park, runner-up Amanda McCurdy and 17-year-olds Morgan Pressel and In-Kyung Kim.

Park, who will play for the University of Southern California, won 4 and 3 over Julie Huh. McCurdy, who plays for Arkansas, won 4 and 3 over Marlowe Boukis.

Pressel, the runner-up in last month's U.S. Women's Open, birdied the first two holes to go 2 up and won four straight holes in one stretch before closing out the match with a birdie on No. 13 for a 7-and-5 victory over Sooji Cho.

Kim, the medalist here and recent U.S. Girls' Junior champion, rallied to win 2 and 1 over Megan McChrystal, the last of five players to survive a playoff for the final spots in match play. McChrystal had three straight birdies to lead 3 up after four holes.

"I played all right today," Pressel said. "I hit two duck-hook drives and one push, but those were the only three bad shots I hit today."

Pressel's half of the draw features most of the prominent players in the field. She was to face Mina Harigae, another highly ranked junior, in the second round this morning. Harigae beat Pressel in the U.S. Girls' Junior two years ago, one match after Pressel ousted Wie.

A possible rematch in the third round against another of the country's standout juniors -- In-Bee Park -- looms for Pressel this afternoon, if both advance. Pressel defeated In-Bee Park in the third round of last year's U.S. Women's Amateur, one match after Park knocked Wie out.

McCurdy and Jane Park are also in Pressel's half of the bracket. McCurdy made the cut in the U.S. Women's Open, and has played much of her best golf in USGA events. The same can be said of Jane Park, a finalist in the 2004 U.S. Girls' Junior.

Annie Thurman-Young, a member of the 2004 U.S. Curtis Cup team, advanced in the opposite bracket, the same side Kaneko is on.

Wie, the most prominent of the current amateurs, did not compete here after playing in LPGA events in Europe the past two weeks. The 15-year-old tied for second at the Evian Masters and tied for third at the Women's British Open.