Northwestern Wins NCAA Women’s Golf Championship
In a final filled with emotion and suspense, Northwestern claimed its first title at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. Dianna Lee, with a five-foot par putt on the 18th hole, secured the 3-2 victory over Stanford, the top-seeded team.
Stanford, which had dominated the stroke-play phase with a record score, was seeking its third title in four years and to become the first team to win consecutive championships since the change to the match-play format in 2017.
The tension held until the last moment at La Costa, where Lee, after having previously missed crucial putts, made the most important putt of his career.
More than doing what people didn’t believe we could do, it’s this group believing in what I thought I could do.
Emily Fletcher, Northwestern Coach
Megha Ganne of Stanford earned a 5 and 4 victory in the first match, while Hsin Tai Lin of Northwestern secured a 3 and 2 victory.
Laura Nguyen brought the Wildcats closer to the title with a 7-foot birdie putt, securing a 1-up victory over Paula Martin Sampedro.
This left Northwestern one point away from victory, which could come from Dianna Lee, who had a 3-hole lead with five to play, or from Elise Lee, who had taken the lead over Stanford’s Kelly Xu on the 15th hole.
Stanford didn’t give up easily.
Xu, after missing a 4-foot putt that put her behind for the first time in the match, responded with a 15-foot birdie on the 16th hole and a wedge shot to 10 feet for birdie on the 17th, regaining control. They tied the 18th hole, giving Xu a 1-up victory and tying the team score at 2-2.
It all came down to the final match, which Dianna Lee had firmly in her grasp. Revuelta bogeyed holes 11 and 12, going 3 down with five holes to play, but won the 14th with a par and holed a 15-foot birdie putt on 15 to get within one.
Lee was in a back bunker, got out to 7 feet and missed his par putt on 16. Reeling, however, he missed his 4-foot par putt to go 1 down. On the next hole, Lee had a 12-foot birdie putt to win the match and missed it, leaving himself almost 5 feet. He missed it and the match was tied. He made it to stay 1 up heading to 18.
The final hole, a par 5, became a wedge test with a creek protecting the green. Both players had about 18 feet. Lee’s uphill putt veered sharply from the left edge and rolled 5 feet past. Revuelta left her downhill putt short, giving Lee a 5-foot putt for the win.
This time, he did it and Northwestern’s celebration, which had reached the final once before in 2017, began.
