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LOS ANGELES — Billy Schofill is superstitious by trade. So it’s no surprise to hear Megan Schofill, his daughter, also is.
That’s why since it wasn’t broken, there was no point in trying to fix it.
Schofill, 22 from Monticello, Florida, was succeeding in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club, so Billy didn’t want to risk it and possibly jinx his daughter. So he resorted to staying at home and stressing while watching his daughter compete for her biggest title in her career on TV.
Only Billy knows what his reaction was like when she won.
Schofill was unflappable Sunday in the canyons of Bel-Air, topping fellow Floridian Latanna Stone 4 and 3 to win the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur. Schofill, who’s set to begin her fifth year at Auburn this coming week, took the lead for good in the 36-hole final on the 15th hole of the morning session during a stretch of three consecutive holes she won to hold a 3 up lead heading into the break.
“I’m definitely still in shock,” Schofill said on the 15th green, where moments earlier Stone missed a par putt to halve the hole. “What an honor. This golf course was unreal. If you would have asked me coming into this week that I was going to be the champion, I would have said I got a long way to go, but you know, it just shows all the hard work has paid off and I really need to be proud of myself and just build on this.”
U.S. Women’s Amateur: Photos
Schofill and Stone, who’s set to begin her fifth year at LSU this fall, are good friends, so it wasn’t a surprise to see them chatting each other up during their walk Sunday up and down the hills of Bel-Air.
Not until the back nine did the conversations become quiet.
Schofill led 4 up with nine holes to play, and Stone had numerous opportunities to shrink the gap, but a cold putter in the afternoon session took away any chance to dig into the lead.
Stone missed short putts on the ninth hole and 11th hole. Opportunities were there for her to claw her way back closer, but nothing fell. Earlier in the week, Stone was 5 down thru seven before winning in 20 holes, so Schofill knew no lead was safe.
Megan Schofill, winner of the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur @AuburnWGolf #USWomensAm pic.twitter.com/yZ8TYaoCTv
— Cameron Jourdan (@Cam_Jourdan) August 14, 2023
“We never allowed ourselves to think about winning,” Schofill’s caddie and boyfriend, C.J. Easley, said. “It was just one shot at a time, one hole at a time. Even when we got four up with 10 to go, I just asked her to give me 10 more good holes. Give me nine more good holes. Latanna is a really good player, and she’s going to make a run. We just have to do one shot at a time.
“I don’t even have the words to describe it. It’s just super cool from my perspective to see her accomplish this. I was glad to be along for the ride.”
On Saturday night, Schofill admitted she was antsy. When her and Easley’s food didn’t arrive at 7:20 p.m. and instead came 20 minutes later, it set her off. Not as much as when Easley’s alarm went off at 4 a.m.
“I was like, ‘I’m not going back to sleep now,’” Schofill said.
A sunny day turned cloudy and cool as the players marched down the back nine. Schofill’s worst shot of the championship came on the par-5 14th, when her tee shot sailed right and landed on mulch covering the side of the canyon. She found the ball, but with an awkward stance could only manage to get it to the rough. She ended up losing the hole.
On the next hole, the clinching one, she wasn’t going to let the tee shot go right, but she smashed a drive up the left side. Then she capitalized, hitting her iron to about 5 feet. Stone left her second short and in the rough. After Stone’s pitch shot ran past the hole, Schofill barely missed her birdie chance, but Stone was unable to knock in the par and conceded the match.
“The disappointments you have in the game make you want to feel those big moments that much more,” Auburn women’s golf coach Melissa Luellen said. “She’s had a couple of SEC Championships where she has been runner-up twice. For someone that has worked so hard and so talented, she hadn’t won that big tournament yet.
“This is huge. This is a game changer for someone who wins the U.S. Women’s Amateur.”
Luellen was at Bel-Air earlier in the week and told her players if they advanced to the championship match, she would be back. After a late flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles on Saturday, she was back to support Schofill for every hole Sunday.
However, being as superstitious as she is, Schofill said if she had a poor start, Luellen would have to leave. Instead, Luellen watched her team leader become the first Auburn Tiger to win a U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Schofill was emotional during the trophy ceremony, thanking her parents and Easley for their support. Earlier in the week, she said how well Easley and her worked together and how the comfortable partnership pushed her.
“I just felt like with him on the bag, I really don’t think without him any of this would have happened this week,” Schofill said.
It all came to fruition on the 15th green, when she hoisted the Robert Cox Trophy toward the overcast skies as tears streamed from her face. Schofill was the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, and she finally had that elusive big title.
She’s the princess of Bel-Air.