Blumenherst, Munoz to battle for U.S. Women's Amateur crown

Golf Betting Lines

08/09/2008 - Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amanda Blumenherst didn't lead until the back nine on Saturday, but she managed to knock off Erynne Lee 3 & 2 to advance to the finals at the 108th U.S. Women's Amateur at Eugene Country Club.

Azahara Munoz cruised to a 4 & 3 win over fellow Spaniard Belen Mozo in the other semifinal match.

Lee, a high school sophomore, grabbed an early 1-up lead as Blumenherst bogeyed the third. Blumenherst rebounded with a win on the fifth, where she made bogey on the par-three to even the match. Lee parred the next and again was 1-up.

Blumenherst, the co-stroke play medalist and last year's runner-up, squared the match again with a par on the ninth. Around the turn, it was all Blumenherst.

The three-time All-American from Duke grabbed her first lead with a par on the par-four 11th. Blumenherst made another par on 15 to extend her lead to 2-up with three holes to go.

The 21-year-old Blumenherst closed out the match in style with a birdie on the par-five 16th.

In the other semifinal, Munoz parred the first for a 1-up edge and never gave up that lead. Mozo made bogey on the second to drop 2-down, but birdied the third to cut the deficit back to 1-down.

Munoz, the 2008 NCAA Individual champion, parred the fifth and sixth to extend her lead to 3-up. Mozo fought right back to win the seventh and eighth to again pull within 1-down. That was as close as she'd get.

The 20-year-old Munoz parred the ninth, then birdied the 11th to again move 3- up. Mozo birdied the 12th to get within 2-down, but Munoz parred 14 and 15 to close out the 4 & 3 win.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.