Duke Finishes Third At NCAA Golf Championship

May 22, 2004

AUBURN, ALA.- Duke's incredible season came to an end on Saturday as the top-ranked Blue Devils came up just short at the 2004 NCAA Championship finishing third with a seven-over-par score of 1159 at the Par 72, 6,215 Grand National Lake Course.

UCLA captured its second NCAA Championship with a four-under-par 1148 and Oklahoma State finished second with a one-under-par 1151. The Blue Devils just couldn't get anything going on the final 10 holes played Saturday and finished with a final day 294.

Duke senior Virada Nirapathpongporn turned in an even-par 72 on Saturday to finish tied for sixth in the individual competition with a four-day total of 287. Her top-10 finish gives Nirapathpongporn 27 career top-10 finishes, which ties Jenny Chuasiriporn on the all-time Duke list. Freshman Brittany Lang was tied for 13th with a four-day total of 290, after carding a 74 on Saturday.

Sophomore Liz Janangelo fought back to finish one-under-par for the day and was tied for 16th, individually, with a 291. Janangelo collected her 19th round of even or under par, which is a school record.

After entering the final round at tied for 14th, Leigh Anne Hardin struggled to finish with a 79 on Saturday, which gave her a total of 297 for tied for 44th. She was six-over-par during a three-hole stretch on the back nine on Saturday, which led to her total of 79.

Freshman Anna Grzebien had a 77 on the final day and finished tied for 49th with a 298. For the tournament, the Blue Devils did not have a player shoot in the 60s for only the second time this season (Lady Gator).

For the season, Duke won school-record 10 tournaments and posted its seventh top-five finish in the NCAA Championship. The Blue Devils will lose two seniors- Nirapathpongporn and Hardin- but will return three four letterwinners for the 2004-05 campaign.