ERIN, Wis. (AP) — Amari Avery had to borrow a friend’s clubs for one of the biggest rounds of her life and still found a way to make the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open.
That was just part of an eventful weekend that also included an attempted break-in at the place where she was initially staying.
“To say it was wild is putting it pretty nice,” Avery quipped after completing her third round Saturday at Erin Hills.
Avery’s frantic Friday began at about 2 a.m. when she said her family had to notify the police about a suspicious person at the place in Milwaukee where they were sleeping.
“My boyfriend, my mom, and my dad saw the person outside the door, so it was a little bit scary,” Avery said. “We just kind of stayed back away from the front door, and we were just kind of hoping it would solve itself. It was nice that the guy ended up leaving and the police came and made us feel more safe.”
They then packed up their things while Avery’s boyfriend, Gavin Aurilia, prepared to board a flight out of town. One problem: Aurilia inadvertently left with Avery’s clubs instead of his own. Avery and Aurilia both have played collegiately at Southern California.
“We use the same (bag) from USC, so it’s obviously the exact same, it looks the exact same,” Avery said. “I think it’s equally my dad and my boyfriend’s fault for not checking the bags. But they loaded it in the car, my dad took him to the airport, and he grabbed the wrong set. That was that, and we actually didn’t realize until about like 12:15, before my tee time.”
Then the potential fallout from this oversight started to sink in.
“I sat in my hotel at 12:30 like, ‘I guess I am going to pull out from the U.S. Open after a pretty solid round,’ “ Avery said. “I was obviously devastated.”
Avery got rescued by former USC teammate Gabi Ruffels, who played Saturday morning and was unlikely to make the cut after finishing the first two rounds at 7-over par.
“My agent asked, ‘Do you want to use her clubs?’ “ Avery said. “I was like, ‘Well, how did she play?’ Because I was like, if she’s playing good, no one in their right mind is giving me their clubs. I probably wouldn’t, either, and I’m a nice person.
“But unfortunately for her, she missed the cut, but it was fortunate for me and she’s obviously a very class act, great friend of mine, so she lent me the clubs.”
Avery carded a 73 with the borrowed clubs in the second round, good enough to enable her to make the cut.
She was playing her 17th hole of the day when darkness forced a suspension of play Friday night. Avery finished the round Saturday morning after her own clubs already had been returned to Wisconsin, though United States Golf Association rules required her to finish that round with the same equipment she’d used at the start of it.
Avery got her own clubs back because Aurilia’s mother had caught a flight from Phoenix on Friday to bring them to her.
“I can’t thank her enough,” Avery said. “I can’t thank my whole inner circle enough. To hop on a flight like that is crazy, and I’m just super grateful.”
Avery actually posted a better score with the borrowed clubs in the second round than she did with her own clubs in the third round. On a day when scores across the board were much weaker than they’d been in the first two rounds, Avery posted a 76, though she nearly aced the 189-yard, par-3 No. 6.
“Based on the score and just based on how I felt yesterday, I felt like Gabi’s clubs were honestly pretty good,” Avery said. “I joked with her last night after I called her and I said, ‘Obviously, thank you so much for lending me the clubs.’ I was like, ‘I might take your putter.’ Like I love my putter, like everyone knows that. But I don’t know, my college coach said I gained putts yesterday.
"I was like, maybe I should take her putter and maybe like an iron or two. But, no, it was nice to have my clubs back.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Steve Megargee, The Associated Press
