Natasha Andrea Oon hits her third shot onto the 18th hole during her round on Friday, April 1 (Photo by Max Bechtoldt)
By Max Bechtoldt (@CavsMax13) – Executive Editor
San Jose State women’s golfer Natasha Andrea Oon narrowly missed the cut at The Chevron Championship, shooting a 3-over-par total on Thursday and Friday.
The Chevron Championship, the first major on the LPGA schedule, takes place annually at The Dinah Shore Course at Mission Hills Country Club near Palm Springs, Calif. It is considered by many to be the most prestigious and iconic event on the LPGA Tour. This is the final year it will be held at Mission Hills.
Competing as an amateur, Oon teed off on the front nine Thursday morning. Oon had a bit of a roller coaster first round, starting with a bogey on the difficult par 4 third hole, but she rallied to finish the front nine even with a birdie on the par 3 eighth.
On the back nine, Oon fell victim to one of the toughest stretches on the LPGA Tour, with three bogeys on the stretch between 13 and 16. She recovered with a birdie on the par 5 18th though, a hole that was playing relatively easy on Thursday.
Oon improved Friday, despite having to deal with the firm greens and high winds that accompany afternoon rounds at Mission Hills.
Oon started her second round on the back nine and caught a par streak that went all the way to her penultimate hole, the par 3 eighth, which this time around she bogeyed. This bogey essentially ended her chances at making the cut.
Though the ninth hole at Mission Hills is a par 5, it is not necessarily a reachable one, so the chances at an eagle to make the cut were unlikely. Oon made par on the last hole to finish at 3 over for the tournament, two strokes shy of making it to the weekend.
In total on Friday Oon made 17 pars and one bogey to shoot 1 over on the round. Her weekend total was 74-73-147.
Oon found support in the galleries from the SJSU women’s golf team, who made the trip down to the desert to watch their teammate compete at the highest level of championship golf.
Despite Oon not making the cut in her first major start of her career, she did impress with her solid, consistent play. Oon finished ahead of major champions Stacy Lewis, Sung Hyun Park, Angela Stanford and Jeongeun Lee6.