SCARBOROUGH, N.Y. (AP) Meredith Duncan has one more goal as an amateur before she joins the LPGA Tour.

Duncan, a member of the U.S. team that beat Britain last month in the Curtis Cup, will begin defense of her U.S. Women's Amateur Championship on Monday at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club.

A field of 147 from around the world will compete in 18 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday at the par-71 6,190-yeard course. The top 64 advance to match play on Wednesday.

The 36-hole championship final is Saturday.

The 21-year-old Duncan, from Shreveport, La., made a 2-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole last year to beat Nicole Perrot of Chile for the title in Andover, Kan.

Perrot, now on the LPGA Tour, came from four down after 27 holes to force the playoff one week after winning the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship.

Duncan will face strong competition from two of her Curtis Cup teammates, Carol Semple Thompson - a lifelong amateur - and Angela Jerman.

Thompson, 53, won the U.S. Women's Amateur in 1973 and has played in the Curtis Cup a record 12 times. She made a 27-foot birdie putt to win this year's event over Britain and Ireland.

Jerman, of Columbus, Ga., is also turning pro after this week.

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