Thibault takes Women’s Western Am title back to Canada

Saturday, July 25, 2020 

That the mastery of golf is a fool’s wish was proven again on Saturday at Prestwick Country Club in Frankfort. The day before, Jackie Lucena of Chico, Calif., could do no wrong in routing her semifinal opponent by a 7 and 6 margin.

One sunrise later, she had to work for everything she got. It wasn’t enough to overcome Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Quebec, who scored a 4 and 3 victory in the championship match of the 120th Women’s Western Amateur to take the crown back to Canada for the second time in four years.

Thibault, who never trailed, broke open the tight match by winning the 13th and 14th holes with pars and the 15th with a clinching birdie 4 to earn the right to lift the W.A. Alexander Cup.

The native of suburban Montreal, too, suffered from the vagaries of the game. It took her 21 holes to oust her semifinal foe on Friday, and she led 2 up after seven holes against Lucena, but a combination of bogey and double-bogey on the eighth and ninth holes brought Lucena back to square the match.

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up, because I know that my game right now is kind of on a rollercoaster,” Thibault said. “I feel like I gained a lot of momentum from yesterday. I just kept the faith. I kept fighting and didn’t give up.”

Thibault parred No. 10, taking the lead when Lucena couldn’t save par. A change in attitude also helped.

“I think it was just like a switch,” Thibault said. “I had missed a lot on the front, and I could feel how close I was to hitting it really good. I just switched it in my head and went into full focus mode.”

She had plenty of previous successes to draw on. The 21-year-old Fresno State senior had won the Mountain West Conference title and the Ontario Women’s Amateur last year, and was part of Canada’s bronze medal team at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru.

Scoring par at No. 13 to Lucena’s bogey and par at No. 14 to Lucena’s double-bogey moved Thibault 2 up with four holes to play. The birdie at the 15th settled the issue.

In contrast to Friday’s semifinal romp, Lucena, a sophomore at California-Davis, never was better than level with Thibault.

“It was definitely a grind,” Lucena said. “I wasn’t having my best game. I was just trying to roll with what I had, and it ended up not working out.

“I definitely realized that I wasn’t as free and as comfortable as in my previous rounds. Besides today, I felt phenomenal this week.”

Such is golf. Just in making the final, she and Thibault were awarded exemptions to the U.S. Women’s Amateur, slated for Aug. 3-9 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md. Thibault was already in the field on her world ranking.

“I had a lot of confidence in my game coming into this, and I think I wavered a little bit (in the final match) when I hit some bad shots,” Lucena said. “I was just so excited to make it to the finals.”

The worldwide pandemic has, like with the rest of the world, left more question marks than answers in golf. That leaves Thibault’s schedule in doubt.

“I’ll go to the U.S. Women’s Am, and then it depends on school,” Thibault explained. “If school is back, then I’ll be competing in college. If not, I’ll be heading to Europe for the British Am.”

Most likely, someday soon, also to the LPGA Tour. 

Around Prestwick

In two years, Prestwick will host the Women’s Western Junior. It will then be 50 years since the club hosted the 1972 edition, won by 15-year-old Nancy Lopez. … When Canada’s Maddie Szeryk won at River Forest Country Club in 2017, it was the first time a Canadian captured the WWGA’s amateur title. … Thibault had advanced to the quarterfinals at Mistwood two years ago and was knocked out by eventually winner Emilee Hoffman.

– Tim Cronin