A late double bogey didn't derail Sofia Rivera of St. Augustine from qualifying for a women's golf major championship.
The Beachside High junior and the 2025 Times-Union First Coast girls player of the year, Rivera rebounded from a 7 at the par-5 15th hole of the Sugar Mill Country Club in New Smyrna Beach on April 27 to post a 70 and a 36-hole total of 5-under-par 139 to win a U.S. Women's Open qualifier by two shots over another amateur, Siuue Wu of Hong Kong.
Rivera, who won the FHSAA Class 3A state individual title last fall, had a 69 in the first round, following her only bogey at No. 5 with three birdies in her next four holes.
She was bogey-free through 14 holes in the second round, with birdies at Nos. 10 and 11. After the double at the 15th dropped her into a tie with Wu, Rivera birdied Nos. 16 and 17 and parred the last.
Wu, a sophomore at the University of Florida who was coming off a tie for 25th in the SEC Championship, had birdies at Nos. 6 and 8 but was 1-over for her last 10 holes.
The U.S. Women's Open is June 4-7 at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Rivera has played in one other USGA national championship, teaming up with Episcopal junior Sahana Chokshi to play in the U.S. Women's Four-Ball last year.
Rivera, 17, will be the youngest First Coast product to play in a U.S. Open. David Duval, a Jacksonville native, qualified for the 1990 U.S. Open at the age of 18. He made the cut and tied for 56th.
Riviera has committed to play at the University of Indiana.
The PGA Tour hasn’t played Doral’s Blue Monster since 2016, but there are 10 players in the field for this week’s Cadillac Championship who will bridge the 10-year gap.
Led by 2016 winner Adam Scott, five of the 10 players finished among the top-20 at Doral in 2016, when it was a World Golf Championship, also sponsored by Cadillac. Rickie Fowler tied for eighth, Harris English was solo 10th and Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose tied for 17th.
The other players in this week’s field who played at Doral in 2016 are Jason Day (tie for 23rd), Daniel Berger (tie for 28th) and Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas and Shane Lowry (who all tied for 35th).
Other players who played in Doral events prior to 2016 were Keegan Bradley, Tommy Fleetwood, Lucas Glover, Russell Henley, David Lipsky, Alex Noren, Jhonattan Vegas and Gary Woodland.
Scott said not much has changed in terms of how to navigate the Monster.
“It’s pretty much how I remember it,” said the 45-year-old, who shot 69 in the final round to come from three shots behind Rory McIlroy, who faded to a tie for third with a closing 74. “Good memories for me. Obviously winning the last time we were here but I’ve always enjoyed playing this golf course. It’s a challenge. It’s called the Blue Monster for a reason.”
One big change: More than 200 yards have been added to the course, making is 7,739 yards. Three of the par-3 holes are 216 yards or longer, then par-5 10th is 608 yards and the par-5 12th is a hefty 667 yards.
Retief Goosen is pretty good at a rare format used in professional golf.
Goosen won the PGA Tour Champions Mitsubishi Electric Classic on April 26 at the TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga., with 39 points under the Modified Stableford system, two points clear of two-time event winner Stephen Ames.
It was the first time the format was used on the Champions Tour and it came 21 years after Goosen won the PGA Tour's 2005 International in Castle Pines, Colo., using the same system that awards eight points for an albatross, five for an eagle, two for a birdie, minus-1 for a bogey and minus-3 for a double bogey or worse.
Goosen's fifth PGA Tour Champions victory also brought another distinction: He's the first to have won on the Champions Tour and PGA Tour at the TPC Sugarloaf. He won there in 2002, beating Jesper Parnevik by four shots.
Event: Cadillac Championship, April 30-May 3, Trump National Doral Blue Monster Course, Doral.