CARLSBAD, Calif. — Northwestern captured its first NCAA ladies’s golf title Wednesday when Dianna Lee holed a 5-foot par putt on the 18th gap to beat Andrea Revuelta for a 3-2 victory over top-seeded Stanford that ended a last hour of excessive rigidity.
Stanford superior via stroke play with a file rating to win by 27 pictures and was poised to win its third NCAA title in 4 years and grow to be the primary staff to win back-to-back for the reason that transfer to match play in 2017.
As a substitute, the Wildcats had been screaming with delight at at La Costa when Lee — who had twice earlier than missed putts that may have gained it — delivered the largest putt of her life.
“Greater than doing what individuals did not suppose you might is that this group believing what it thought it might do,” Northwestern coach Emily Fletcher stated.
Stanford junior Megha Ganne had a 5-and-4 win within the lead match, whereas Hsin Tai Lin of Northwestern scored a 3-and-2 victory.
Laura Nguyen put the Wildcats on the verge of the title with a 7-foot birdie putt for a 1-up victory over Paula Martin Sampedro.
That left Northwestern needing just one extra level from both Dianna Lee, who was 3-up with 5 holes to play, or Elise Lee, who had taken her first lead over Stanford’s Kelly Xu on the fifteenth gap.
Stanford did not go down with no combat.
Xu, who missed a 4-foot putt to fall behind for the primary time all match, answered with a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 sixteenth and a wedge to 10 ft for birdie on the seventeenth to regain management. They halved the 18th gap, giving Xu a 1-up victory and tying the staff rating at 2-all.
It got here all the way down to the ultimate match that Dianna Lee as soon as had firmly in her grasp. Revuelta bogeyed the eleventh and twelfth holes to fall 3 down with 5 holes to play, However she gained the 14th with a par and holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the fifteenth to get inside one.
Lee was in a again bunker, blasted out to 7 ft and missed her par putt on the sixteenth. Revuelta, nonetheless, pulled her 4-foot par putt to remain 1 down. On the following gap, Lee had a 12-foot birdie putt to win the match and pulled it, operating it practically 5 ft by. Miss that and the match was all sq.. She holed it to remain 1 up going to the 18th.
The par-5 closing gap quantities to a wedge contest with a stream guarding the inexperienced. Each gamers had about 18 ft. Lee’s uphill putt spun exhausting off the left lip and rolled 5 ft by. Revuelta left her downhill putt quick, establishing Lee with 5 ft for the win.
This time, she made it and the celebration was on for Northwestern, which had reached the ultimate as soon as earlier than in 2017 earlier than dropping to Arizona State.
