HARRISON, N.Y. — Arizona women’s golf coach Laura Ianello told Yu-Chiang (Vivian) Hou that if she made it to the final of this week’s 121st U.S. Women’s Amateur that she’d fly to Westchester Country Club to watch in person.
“You have to book your flight right now,” Hou said Saturday afternoon after defeating Valentina Rossi, 2 up, in their semifinal match.
Rossi, a rising sophomore at Michigan State, did something this week that no player in the field had done: She made Hou play the West Course’s final two holes. The incoming junior at Arizona had cruised through the first four rounds of match play, ending each duel before the 17th tee. But Rossi gave her a real test from the start, sending the match to the 18th green where Hou would ultimately prevail and punch her ticket to Sunday’s 36-hole final.
Hou is the first Wildcat to make the Women’s Amateur final since Ianello (nee Myerscough) in 2000.
“It’s really amazing,” Hou said of her achievement after the match. “Like representing my college and then wearing all the U of A unit, it’s just amazing.”
Hou’s older sister and former Wildcat teammate, Yu-Sang, is on her bag this week, too.
Rossi took an early 1-up lead with par on the first hole, but Hou was able to get it back to even on the fifth and then took a lead with a birdie on seventh. Hou held as much as a 2-up lead through the middle of the match but Rossi battled back yet again, taking advantage of rare mistakes from Hou to win Nos. 13 and 15 with par to even the match heading to the 16th.
Both players tied No. 16 with par, then Rossi opened the door for Hou after she flew the green with her approach and missed the dance floor again with her pitch from the thick rough behind the 17th green. Hou would win the hole with a conceded par on her first time playing the 17th since Tuesday.
Despite not seeing the final two holes for three days, Hou wasn’t phased. Her gameplan didn’t change: try to hit fairways, greens and make par. And if she hits it close, “just make birdie.”
It also helped she had her favorite yardage into the 18th green. From 96 yards away and dead into the wind with a 1-up advantage, Hou had the perfect set up for her pitching wedge, which she stuffed within feet of the tricky back-right pin to earn a concession and the win.
.@ArizonaWGolf‘s Vivian Hou closed out her match in stellar fashion!
She is our first #USWomensAm ꜰɪɴᴀʟɪꜱᴛ with a 2-up victory! pic.twitter.com/Z0IW0mWFeJ
— USGA (@USGA) August 7, 2021
The Taiwan native has come close to winning in the States on multiple occasions, racking up six top-five finishes since 2019 including runner-up showings at the 2019 ANNIKA Intercollegiate, Stanford Intercollegiate and the 2020 Arizona Wildcat Invitational.
“I’ve been taking those second place a lot this past few tournaments,” said Hou of her close finishes. “This tournament is such a really strong tournament and then one of the best in the States, I really just want to keep having fun and enjoy this tournament.”
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