“I can’t go on”: Top-seeded US amateur abandons semifinal due to injury

Maria Jose Marin’s attempt to become the first medalist in 16 years to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur came to a painful end Saturday morning in Southern Hills.

Marin, a rising sophomore at Arkansas and a native of Colombia, was forced to forfeit her semifinal match against 15-year-old Asterisk Talley due to an apparent left leg injury. Marin was trailing by just 1 point after 14 holes when she withdrew.

Marin began showing signs of injury when she fell to the ground shortly after her second shot on the par-5 13th hole. She received medical attention, including bandaging her left knee, before she could continue play. She evened the hole with a bogey, but her knee required further treatment on the next tee. Photos show Marin lying on a bench with a towel over her face while medical staff tended to her.

She fought through another tie, only to retire one hole later when her tee shot sailed behind a tree.

“It stretched out further than it should have and it hurt really badly,” Marin said. “Like nothing was broken, but like something was wrong. I just fell to the ground and couldn’t move. Of course that hurts because I wanted to be in the final so badly. And after I got to that point, I knew I was capable of better. But I looked at my dad (and my caddy) and just said, ‘I can’t. I can’t do this anymore.’ And he said, ‘OK, just take care of yourself.'”

Kathryn Riley/USGA Museum

Amanda Blumenherst is the youngest U.S. Women’s Amateur champion to also win the Robert Cox Trophy, the seventh to do so in 2008.

Talley made it to the 36-hole final, which was scheduled to begin Saturday afternoon and end Sunday morning because of looming weather. She will face another high school student, Rianne Malixi of the Philippines, who Talley defeated 8 and 7 in the U.S. Girls’ Junior final last month. Malixi defeated Marin’s Arkansas teammate Kendall Todd 1-0 in the other semifinal, having never led before her victory on the 18th hole.