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.
“More than doing what people didn’t think you could is this group believing what it thought it could do,” said Northwestern coach Emily Fletcher.
Stanford was trying to become the first team in the match-play era (beginning in 2015) to win back-to-back titles. They also prevailed in 2022 and earned the top seed this year by winning the 72-hole stroke-play portion by 21 shots.
The Cardinal 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 15-foot birdie to win the 15th.
Both players bogeyed the par-3 16th — Revuelta missing a 4-footer to win the hole — and matched pars at the 17th, with Lee missing a 12-foot putt to end things and needing to make a 5-foot 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.
Northwestern credit belief for NCAA title win
Brentley Romine talks with the entire Northwestern women’s golf team after winning the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, discussing their belief in each other and themselves.
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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