KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mari Chun, a 17-year-old from Pearl City and Angela Park, a 16-year-old from Torrance, Calif., finished with 6-under-par 136s yesterday and were co-medalists after two rounds of stroke play in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links.

Park had a 70 in the morning at Swope Memorial Golf Course and then Chun had a 69 in the afternoon to tie her.

"It was a surprise," said Chun, a 2005 Kamehameha Schools graduate who will attend Stanford in the fall. "I thought I'd maybe be third or fourth. I didn't think I would be a co-medalist."

The field of 144 was trimmed to 64 with Chun kicking off the first round of match play this morning (2:30 a.m. Hawai'i time) against Patty Chawalitmetha, of Bellflower, Calif.

Ya-Ni Tseng, a 16-year-old from Taiwan who defeated Hawai'i's Michelle Wie in the finals last year, beat the 153 cutoff by one stroke. Wie is playing in the U.S. Men's Amateur Public Links this week.

Mariko Shimozaki, a Seabury Hall graduate who recently completed her eligibility at the University of San Francisco, also advanced to match play despite shooting a second-round 76. She tied for 25th at 147.

Three other golfers from Hawai'i failed to qualify: Kelly Nakashima shot 75—155 to tie for 78th, Cyd Okino shot 82—157 to tie for 93rd, and Jandee Kim shot 84—173 to finish in 140th.

Chun has entered three USGA championships and has been co-medalist in two. She was co-medalist at the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship last year in Fort Worth, Texas, but lost in the first round of match play.

"My record is not great in match play, so hopefully it will be better this year," Chun said. "I've been trying to ask for advice from my friends in Hawai'i who play match play. They pretty much said, 'You're not playing the actual player, you're playing the golf course. As long as you keep telling yourself that, you're not playing their game.'

"Hopefully, I'll play as well as I have the past two days and continue to make birdies and pars."

After just one bogey Monday, Park had three in the second round, but she had four birdies.

"I struggled a little bit out there with my drives," Park said. "I missed six fairways. I got up and down pretty good because I really needed to. I got birdies on holes I really needed to get them. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it."

Park lost to Wie in the semifinals of the USGA event last year.

"In match play you've got to go a little aggressive," Park said. "It is one-on-one, so it's basically you've got to beat your opponent. I'm not going to change anything. I'm just going to play my own game and hit the ball like I've been doing, play like I've been doing. I'll be fine. I've experienced a lot of match play already, so I think I'm a little bit ahead of a lot of people."