Maguire Finishes Runner-Up at NCAA Championship

Sunday, May 21

Sugar Grove, Ill.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three at NCAA Championship (Team Stroke Play)

Blue Devils Feature Strong Start at Tar Heel Invite

Maguire Finishes Runner-Up at NCAA Championship

5/22/2017 11:31:00 PM | Women's Golf

WG NCAA Champ. Highs/Brooks Interview WG NCAA Champ. Leona Maguire Highs/Interview Live Scoring

By: Duke Sports Information

SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – For the second time in her short collegiate career, Duke University junior Leona Maguire has finished runner-up and one shot off the lead at the NCAA Championship as she carded a two-over-par, 218, during the last three days at the 6,343-yard, par 72 Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.

Maguire improved her scores each round during the championship, after opening with a 77 Friday, she closed with a one-under, 71, and two-under, 70, over the last two days. With the top five finish, Maguire joined only Celine Boutier and Amanda Blumenherst as Duke golfers to finish in the top five of multiple NCAA Championships. Duke has featured a golfer in the top two of the individual leaderboard in each of the last three NCAA Championships – Maguire (T2nd in 2017, 2015), Virginia Elena Carta (1st in 2016).

Arizona State's Monica Vaughn registered back-to-back birdies late in her round on No. 6 and No. 7 to take a one stroke lead on the individual leaderboard and ended up holding on with a one-over-par, 217, for the individual title. Vaughn was one stroke better than Maguire (218) and Wake Forest's Jennifer Kupcho (218).

“She knew exactly where she stood – she was four back and knew in order to win this she needed to play well,” commented Duke head coach Dan Brooks on Maguire. “She shot two under today. The wind wasn't quite as strong today, but it was still a very difficult. Two under was exceptional golf.”

In Monday's final round, Maguire opened the day with a great sand save on the par four 10th hole. She then hit her pitching wedge from 103 yards away on the 341-yard, par four 12th to within three feet and drained the birdie to get to one-under. After three straight pars, she would bogey back-to-back holes on 16 and 17. Maguire responded by hitting her approach shot on the par five 18th onto the green for an eagle putt. She would end up tapping in a short birdie to get back to even as she made the turn.

“I played really well all day,” said Maguire. “I did exactly what I wanted to do – started with a nice par save on 10, hit some good birdies and just played really steady, solid golf.”

Maguire, a native of Cavan, Ireland, parred No. 1 and No. 2 before hitting a seven iron into the par three third hole to 20 feet from the cup. She would drain the birdie putt to get to one-under-par. On the following hole, Maguire sent her approach over the green and had to chip from the rough. She made a great six-foot par putt to stay in the red digits. She would add another birdie on the sixth hole as she stuck her approach from 84 yards to within a foot for birdie. Maguire featured birdie putts on each of the final three holes, but couldn't get them to drop. On the day, she hit 14 greens, 13 fairways and had 29 putts.

“I think when we saw the course on the practice round, I thought even par was going to be a good number, especially given the conditions that were forecasted,” said Maguire. “Definitely the past two days in the wind, I am very happy with how I played. There wasn't a whole lot I could do about the first day with the wind, rain and cold that we got. I am just glad that I stayed patient, kept giving myself chances and took advantage of as many of them as I could.”

After her round was completed, Maguire went back to the hotel for a while before returning to the course to prepare in case there was a playoff for the individual title.

In the team standings, Northwestern finished first with a 33-over-par, 897, while Stanford (905), Arizona State (909), Ohio State (913), Southern California (914), Florida (914) and Kent State (919) rounded out the top eight teams that advanced to match play. Duke finished the 54 holes in 18th with rounds of 325, 309 and 300 for a 70-over-par, 934.

“To be honest, I would like to have seen better scores,” commented Brooks. “We really did not play well in this tournament. Although it feels like you got beat up out there because the conditions were very tough, had the conditions been much easier, we still would not have gone to match play.   We didn't play well enough.”

Rookie Ana Belac also got better each day over the 54 holes as she posted rounds of 83, 79 and 77 to finish with a 239, which was tied 89th. In the final round, Belac opened with a bogey on the first hole, but went on to make par on each of the next six holes. After a double-bogey on hole 17, she chipped in from just off the green for her first collegiate eagle on the 476-yard, par five 18th. She made the turn at one-over, 37. Belac, who is from Portoroz, Slovenia, finished the afternoon with seven pars, a bogey and triple-bogey on the fourth hole. She hit 12 greens, eight fairways and had 32 putts on the day.

Both Virginia Elena Carta and Sandy Choi each closed the tournament with a 241 ledger over the three days, which tied for 95th. Carta, who hails from Udine, Italy, struggled on the front nine as she featured five bogeys on the card. After making the turn at five-over, 41, Carta played the final nine at one-under-par. She turned in eight pars and after ripping her tee shot a long way down the fairway, she had only 30 yards into the green on the challenging 376-yard, par four eighth hole. Carta used a 58-degree wedge and chipped it to five feet and made the birdie. She closed the tournament with a four-over-par, 76. Carta hit 14 greens, 12 fairways and had 34 putts.

Playing in her final collegiate tournament, Choi struggled on the opening five holes as she was four-over during that stretch. She settled down and finished the afternoon at one-over-par during her final 13 holes of action. Choi hit only five greens on the day but made eight up-and-downs, including a sand save on No. 13. She drained her first two birdie putts of the tournament on No. 3 as she hit her four iron from 154 yards to within two feet and then drained a seven-foot putt on No. 7. Choi, a product of Seoul, South Korea, hit 12 fairways and rolled 28 putts.

“The thing I am most proud of with Sandy is that she really stepped up and became a leader this senior year,” said Brooks. “She became a vocal leader. We happen to have sort of a quiet team and it is hard to step up and verbally lead such a team. It wasn't always popular and that is a hard thing to do, but from what I could tell it was usually the right thing she was doing. I was really proud of her. Also, she isn't a long hitter. She is able to get so much out of her game – pound for pound – she isn't a very big person either. To put the scores down that she has done for four years, I am really proud of her.”

Junior Lisa Maguire, who is from Cavan, Ireland, closed the championship with her third straight round of 82 on her way to finishing tied for 116th.

The 18th place team finish for the Blue Devils is the highest team finish in Duke history in the NCAA Championship. The previous high was 16th in 1983, which was the first appearance in the event for the Blue Devils. The match play portion of the tournament will kick off Monday, May 23.

Leona Maguire closed the season with a Duke-record 70.29 season stroke average, 21 rounds of even or under par, eight top five finishes and nine rounds in the 60s. She moved into tied for fifth place on Duke's career charts with her 19th top-five finish, sixth with 26 top-10 placements and owns 62 career rounds of even or under par to rank third all-time on the Blue Devil charts.

#GoDuke

Duke Results
T6 T2 Leona Maguire Duke 77 71 70      218 +2
T90 T89 Ana Belac Duke 83 79 77      239 +23
T107 T95 Virginia Elena Carta Duke 83 82 76      241 +25
T101 T95 Sandy Choi Duke 87 77 77      241 +25
T101 T116 Lisa Maguire Duke 82 82 82      246 +30

1 2 3 Team Scores
1 1 1 Northwestern 301 298 298      897 +33
T3 3 2 Stanford 311 298 296      905 +41
T3 T9 3 Arizona State 311 309 289      909 +45
T3 4 4 Ohio State 311 299 303      913 +49
T9 7 T5 Southern California 315 303 296      914 +50
16 12 T5 Florida 320 302 292      914 +50
T3 5 7 Baylor 311 300 306      917 +53
2 2 8 Kent State 303 304 312      919 +55
8 13 9 North Carolina 314 310 296      920 +56
7 6 10 South Carolina 313 300 310      923 +59
T9 11 11 Purdue 315 306 304      925 +61
18 T14 12 Furman 323 302 301      926 +62
T13 T9 13 Texas 317 303 307      927 +63
15 T14 T14 California 319 306 303      928 +64
21 21 T14 Alabama 328 313 287      928 +64
T9 16 T16 Michigan 315 315 299      929 +65
12 8 T16 Miami 316 303 310      929 +65
T19 T17 18 Duke 325 309 300      934 +70
T13 T17 19 Michigan State 317 317 304      938 +74
T19 T19 T20 Florida State 325 310 309      944 +80
17 T19 T20 Clemson 321 314 309      944 +80
24 22 22 Texas Tech 335 313 303      951 +87
22 23 23 Pepperdine 330 320 308      958 +94
23 24 24 Oregon 333 319 308      960 +96

Start Finish Player Team Scores
T3 1 Monica Vaughn Arizona State 74 72 71      217 +1
T6 T2 Leona Maguire Duke 77 71 70      218 +2
1 T2 Jennifer Kupcho * Wake Forest 74 70 74      218 +2
T14 T4 Elodie Van Dievoet Michigan 72 79 68      219 +3
2 T4 August Kim Purdue 72 73 74      219 +3
T6 6 Andrea Lee Stanford 77 71 72      220 +4
T14 7 Amy Lee Baylor 77 74 70      221 +5
T14 T8 Haylee Harford Furman 76 75 71      222 +6
T23 T8 Tiffany Chan Southern California 77 76 69      222 +6
T32 T10 Cheyenne Knight Alabama 78 76 69      223 +7
T3 T10 Ainhoa Olarra South Carolina 76 70 77      223 +7
T10 T10 Albane Valenzuela Stanford 77 73 73      223 +7
T10 13 Janet Mao Northwestern 73 77 74      224 +8
T10 T14 Kacie Komoto Northwestern 78 72 75      225 +9
T14 T14 Alex White * Brigham Young 77 74 74      225 +9
T10 T14 Maddie Szeryk * Texas A&M 76 74 75      225 +9
T45 T17 Kristen Gillman Alabama 78 78 70      226 +10
T21 T17 Maria Vesga Baylor 78 74 74      226 +10
T14 T17 Katja Pogacar Ohio State 74 77 75      226 +10
T32 T17 Maria Torres Florida 81 73 72      226 +10
T23 T17 Hannah Kim Northwestern 75 78 73      226 +10
T23 22 Marthe Wold California 77 76 74      227 +11
5 23 Michaela Finn Kent State 75 72 81      228 +12
T45 T24 Lexi Harkins North Carolina 77 79 73      229 +13
T45 T24 Sarah Burnham Michigan State 79 77 73      229 +13
T45 T24 Taylor Totland Furman 80 76 73      229 +13
T40 T24 Taylor Tomlinson Florida 80 75 74      229 +13
T23 T24 Sarah Cho Northwestern 78 75 76      229 +13
T21 T24 Dewi Weber Miami 79 73 77      229 +13
T8 T24 Stephanie Lau Northwestern 75 74 80      229 +13
T23 T24 Laura Fuenfstueck * College of Charleston 78 75 76      229 +13
T32 T32 Hira Naveed Pepperdine 74 80 76      230 +14
T59 T32 Sofia Garcia Texas Tech 80 78 72      230 +14
T40 T32 Leslie Cloots North Carolina 80 75 75      230 +14
T32 T32 Jessica Porvasnik Ohio State 80 74 76      230 +14
T52 T32 Karolina Vlckova Florida 78 79 73      230 +14
T23 T32 Emilee Hoffman Texas 76 77 77      230 +14
T23 T32 Sophia Schubert Texas 77 76 77      230 +14
T8 T32 Dylan Kim Baylor 78 71 81      230 +14
T40 T32 Pimnipa Panthong Kent State 78 77 75      230 +14
T40 T32 Robynn Ree Southern California 83 72 75      230 +14
T45 T32 Filippa Moork Miami 81 75 74      230 +14
T32 T32 Wad Phaewchimplee Kent State 77 77 76      230 +14
T23 T32 Renate Grimstad Miami 77 76 77      230 +14
T52 T45 Kelly Whaley North Carolina 80 77 74      231 +15
T32 T45 Allyson Geer Michigan State 76 78 77      231 +15
T52 T45 Rio Watanabe Ohio State 82 75 74      231 +15
T45 T45 Greta Isabella Voelker Texas 82 74 75      231 +15
T40 T45 Casey Danielson Stanford 80 75 76      231 +15
T75 T50 Martina Edberg * CSU Fullerton 83 77 72      232 +16
T59 T50 Grace Choi Michigan 80 78 74      232 +16
T32 T50 Nikolette Schroeder Ohio State 78 76 78      232 +16
T59 T50 Katelyn Dambaugh South Carolina 80 78 74      232 +16
T23 T50 Jaclyn Lee Ohio State 79 74 79      232 +16
T14 T50 Ana Pelaez South Carolina 75 76 81      232 +16
T90 T50 Linnea Strom Arizona State 83 79 70      232 +16
T52 T57 Ana Paula Valdes Clemson 77 80 76      233 +17
T45 T57 Emily White Michigan 79 77 77      233 +17
T59 T57 Shannon Aubert Stanford 77 81 75      233 +17
T52 T57 Muni He Southern California 80 77 76      233 +17
T66 T57 Olivia Mehaffey Arizona State 79 80 74      233 +17
T14 T57 Karoline Stormo Kent State 73 78 82      233 +17
T32 T57 Victoria Morgan Southern California 76 78 79      233 +17
T75 T57 Nadine White * Campbell 83 77 73      233 +17
T75 T57 Lydia Gumm Florida State 81 79 73      233 +17
T90 T66 Kathleen Scavo Oregon 82 80 72      234 +18
T59 T66 Kim Metraux Florida State 79 79 76      234 +18
T85 T66 Bianca Pagdanganan * Gonzaga 80 81 73      234 +18
T75 T66 Bryana Nguyen North Carolina 77 83 74      234 +18
T52 T66 Melati Putri Purdue 79 78 77      234 +18
T75 T66 Roberta Liti Arizona State 79 81 74      234 +18
T52 T66 Sophia Zeeb Arizona State 79 78 77      234 +18
T59 73 Lucia Gutierrez California 79 79 77      235 +19
T75 T74 Lauren Stephenson Alabama 85 75 76      236 +20
T66 T74 Alice Hewson Clemson 81 78 77      236 +20
T85 T74 Cara Gorlei * Arkansas 84 77 75      236 +20
T66 T74 Brynn Walker North Carolina 80 79 77      236 +20
T59 T74 Alice Chen Furman 80 78 78      236 +20
T75 T74 Cova Sanjuan Purdue 84 76 76      236 +20
T75 T74 Gabriella Then Southern California 82 78 76      236 +20
T101 T81 Gabby Barker Texas Tech 86 78 73      237 +21
T97 T81 Momoka Kobori Pepperdine 82 81 74      237 +21
T75 T81 Maria Herraez Galvez California 80 80 77      237 +21
T66 T81 Haley Mills Texas 83 76 78      237 +21
T66 T85 Sydney Legacy Clemson 81 78 79      238 +22
T66 T85 Matilda Castren Florida State 84 75 79      238 +22
T97 T85 Jiyoon Jang California 88 75 75      238 +22
T66 T85 Marianne Li California 83 76 79      238 +22
T90 T89 Ana Belac Duke 83 79 77      239 +23
T97 T89 Madeline Chou Stanford 84 79 76      239 +23
T66 T91 Morgane Metraux Florida State 81 78 81      240 +24
T101 T91 Carolyn Markley Michigan State 85 79 76      240 +24
T121 T91 Samantha Wagner Florida 92 75 73      240 +24
T66 T91 Julienne Soo * Oklahoma 82 77 81      240 +24
T90 T95 Patricia Wong Pepperdine 88 74 79      241 +25
T107 T95 Virginia Elena Carta Duke 83 82 76      241 +25
T90 T95 Natalie Srinivasan Furman 87 75 79      241 +25
T101 T95 Sandy Choi Duke 87 77 77      241 +25
T101 T95 Marta Martin Garcia Purdue 82 82 77      241 +25
T90 T95 Kelly Grassel Florida 81 81 79      241 +25
T85 T95 Micaela Farah Purdue 82 79 80      241 +25
T107 T102 Marcella Pranovia Oregon 84 81 77      242 +26
T85 T102 Lauren Mason Texas Tech 84 77 81      242 +26
T75 T102 Cathleen Santoso Oregon 83 77 82      242 +26
T114 T102 Camila Serrano * Florida International 83 83 76      242 +26
T101 T102 Katie Sharp Michigan State 81 83 78      242 +26
T85 T102 Fiona Liddell Baylor 78 83 81      242 +26
T90 T102 Kelly Nielsen Kent State 81 81 80      242 +26
T107 T102 Cara Barker Texas Tech 85 80 77      242 +26
T107 T110 Carly Burkhardt Furman 89 76 79      244 +28
T107 T110 Julia Beck Texas 82 83 79      244 +28
T114 T110 Petra Salko Oregon 84 82 78      244 +28
T114 T113 Maya Walton * Princeton 88 78 79      245 +29
T107 T113 Alisa Snyder Michigan 84 81 80      245 +29
T130 T113 Mia Landegren Alabama 89 84 72      245 +29
T121 T116 Paz Marfa Sans Michigan State 81 86 79      246 +30
T101 T116 Lisa Maguire Duke 82 82 82      246 +30
T107 T116 Marion Veysseyre South Carolina 82 83 81      246 +30
T126 T119 Marisa Messana Clemson 92 78 77      247 +31
T114 T119 Kelsey Ulep Oregon 85 81 81      247 +31
128 T119 Lakareber Abe Alabama 87 84 76      247 +31
T126 T122 Anita Uwadia South Carolina 94 76 78      248 +32
T114 T122 Macarena Aguilera Miami 87 79 82      248 +32
T97 T122 Delfina Acosta Miami 79 84 85      248 +32
T114 125 Megan Kim Michigan 85 81 83      249 +33
T114 T126 Susie Cavanagh * Oregon State 79 87 84      250 +34
T123 T126 Maggie Beth Byers Baylor 87 81 82      250 +34
125 T126 Kennedy Swann Clemson 82 87 81      250 +34
T123 129 Amanda Doherty Florida State 90 78 83      251 +35
T130 130 Tatiana Wijaya Pepperdine 86 87 79      252 +36
132 T131 Katherine Zhu Pepperdine 91 85 79      255 +39
129 T131 Mami Yamamoto Texas Tech 87 85 83      255 +39