
Northwestern junior Dianna Lee made a 4-foot putt on the 18th hole to give the Wildcats their first women’s golf national championship.
Lee defeated Stanford’s Andrea Revuelta, 1 up, in the deciding match as Northwestern upset the top-ranked defending champions, 3-2. Lee had three separate putts over the final two holes to clinch the championship and made the third time a charm.
Stanford, trying to become the first team in the match-play era to win back-to-back titles, grabbed the first point Wednesday at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, when Megha Ganne beat Ashley Yun in the leadoff match, 5 and 4.
Northwestern, the No. 3 seed, claimed the next two points, with Hsin Tai Lin beating Meja Ortengren, 3 and 2, and Lauryn Nguyen, the lone senior on the team, defeating Paula Martin Sampedro, 1 up.
Stanford’s Kelly Xu evened the overall match with a 1-up victory over Elise Lee.
That left it to junior Dianna Lee vs. freshman Revuelta. Lee was 3 up through 13 but missed a short putt to lose the 14th and Revuelta made a 20-foot birdie to win the 15th.
Both players bogeyed the par-3 16th and matched pars at the 17th, with Lee missing a putt to end things and needing to make a comebacker to remain 1 up.
It was a similar scenario to Tuesday’s semifinals when Lee let a late lead slip away but prevailed over Oregon’s Kiara Romero, the world’s third-ranked amateur.
Putting first at the par-5 18th, Lee’s 18-foot birdie effort — again to win the national championship — lipped out hard on the left edge and spun 4 feet right of the hole. Revuelta, ranked fourth in the world, then left short her 15-foot birdie putt to force extra holes.
Moments later, Lee ended the match and ran into her teammates’ arms in celebration.
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