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NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Celine Boutier kept going. And going. And going.
And is still going.
After surviving 28 holes in the round of 16 on Saturday to beat Ashleigh Buhai, Boutier returned to the Shadow Creek course 30 minutes later for her T-Mobile Match Play quarterfinal against Madelene Sagstrom. The match was suspended because of darkness with the players tied through 17 holes.
That meant 45 holes in one day for the Frenchwoman, who will return Sunday morning to complete the match with Sagstrom.
“Yeah, it was a very long day,” Boutier said. “I feel kind of tired, but I feel like it was a good match again this afternoon, very tight and going back and forth with Madelene. So just got to keep pushing until tomorrow.”
Boutier’s round-of-16 victory was the longest match in the five-year history of the event. The previous record was 22 holes, set twice. Buhai bogeyed the final hole, allowing Boutier to advance with a par.
Sagstrom also needed extended time, beating Carlota Ciganda in 19 holes. But Sagstrom had to wait more than two hours before teeing up again.
The winner will face Angel Yin in the semifinals. Yin is one of two Americans in the final four — Lauren Coughlin is the other — and at No. 12 is the highest-ranked player still in the field.
Yin took care of the second-ranked player, Jeeno Thitikul, winning 4 and 2 to beat a player who had steamrolled opponents this week. But Yin took the lead for good with a difficult downhill chip from just off the green for birdie on the par-13 13th hole.
“This golf course, anything can happen, and I was like, ‘OK, at least I’m 1-up now,'” said Yin, who is from Los Angeles. “I’ve been kind of 1-up in the beginning and then 1-down throughout the day, all square, 1-down again. Until 16, I chipped it to 2 feet, that’s when I was like, ‘OK, the match is over.'”
Coughlin, who lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, advanced to her semifinal by defeating Stephanie Kyriacou 1-up. Coughlin has played each at least 18 holes in every match.
“I’m definitely feeling it in my legs, and I think I was a little bit tired to start the first few holes,” Coughlin said. “Then the adrenaline started to take over there probably through about 8 or 9. I finally started to mentally feel like I was back in it.”
Her opponent will be Ariya Jutanugarn, who defeated Maja Stark 4 and 2. This came a day after Jutanugarn took down top-ranked and defending champion Nelly Korda 1-up.
Jutanugarn maintained an easy-going attitude during round-robin play, but acknowledged it was more difficult to keep that mindset the closer she got to a potential tournament title.
“So I just told myself as soon I got up to the tee, I just do my best every shot,” Jutanugarn said. “It’s hard. Today, sometimes it got in my head I want to win, get in the last four. I always came back to myself and say I have to do my best every shot.”
In other round-of-16 matches, Thitikul routed Nataliya Guseva 8 and 7, Yin beat Mao Saigo 3 and 2, Kyriacou edged A Lim Kim 2 and 1, Coughlin beat Sei Young Kim 2-up, Stark easily defeated Brooke Henderson 5 and 4, and Jutanugarn topped Narin An 1-up.
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