NCAA Women's Golf Championship: ASU's Monica Vaughn wins individual title; three Pac-12 teams advance to match play
Three Pac-12 teams -- Stanford, Arizona State, and USC -- are moving on to NCAA Women's Golf Championship match play. ASU has the most momentum, thanks to Monica Vaughn.
[Related: 2017 NCAA Women's Golf Championships leaderboard (NCAA.com)]
The Sun Devil senior captured the individual crown on Monday in dramatic fashion. A two-putt par on her final hole was required to seal the deal:
Monica Vaughn was crowned the individual champion Monday at Rich Harvest Farms, rallying from a third-place tie after the first two rounds. Here's her last putt, featuing a hug from mom:
Let's go crazy!@TheSunDevils' @Mvaughn13 is the 2017 Women's #NCAAGolf Individual Champion! pic.twitter.com/BBMSoTdY7l
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 22, 2017
Vaughn bested herself each round, posting scores of 74, 72 and 71 in the rain-shortened competition. It's the sixth individual title in ASU women's golf history.
Vaughn and her teammates were pumped:
Your individual champion.....MONICA VAUGHN!!!!!!!!! @Mvaughn13 #Allin17 #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/TpBWurDNWT
— Sun Devil W. Golf (@SunDevilGolf) May 22, 2017
It was a good day for the Sun Devils all around; they finished 1-over as a team, moving up six places to third overall. The Sun Devils face sixth-seed Florida in Tuesday's semifinal match.
Congratulations to @SunDevilGolf, @USCWomensGolf, and @StanfordWGolf on moving on to #NCAAGolf match play! #Pac12WGolf #BackThePac pic.twitter.com/FYmXKvYXxb
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) May 23, 2017
The Card are headed to match play for a third straight year after finishing second through three rounds.
Andrea Lee and Albane Valenzuela paced their team, carding par and 1-over in the third round, respectively. Lee finished sixth in the individual competition and Valenzuela was T10. Stanford will face seventh-seed Baylor in match play on Tuesday.
The Trojans will get a shot at their third NCAA title, and their first since 2013, after placing fifth overall in stroke play. Tiffany Chan paced USC with a stellar third round in which she carded a 3-under 69, moving up 16 spots to T8. The Trojans will face Ohio State in match play on Tuesday.
The Bears missed the cut, finishing T14 overall. Martha Wold finished 2-over in the third round.
The Ducks finished in last place, but Kathleen Scavo shot par in the third round.