Post-Match Notes
May 24, 2002 | Women's Golf
May 24, 2002
Duke's Virada Nirapathpongporn earned medalist honors with a 9-under 279, giving the Blue Devils their second-consecutive individual national champion as Duke's Candy Hannemann won the title in 2001. The duo is the just the third pair of teammates to earn consecutive titles, and the first since 1995. Below is a list of teammates who have earned national championships in consecutive seasons:
| Name | Team |
| Virada Nirapathpongporn, 2002 | Duke |
| Candy Hannemann, 2001 | Duke |
| Kristel Mourgue d'Algue, 1995 | Arizona State |
| Emilee Klein, 1994 | Arizona State |
| Annika Sorenstam, 1991 | Arizona |
| Susan Slaughter, 1990 | Arizona |
Nirapathpongporn's 72-hole score of 279 equals the all-time NCAA Championships record established by USC's Jennifer Rosales in 1998. Her total of 9-under, however, is not an NCAA record, as Miami (Fla.)'s Penny Hammel tallied a 12-under 284 on a par-74 course in 1983. Nirapathpongporn's four-day total also eclipsed Duke's school record for 72 holes, eclipsing the 285 posted by Candy Hannemann at last year's NCAA Championships, and equaled by Jenny Chuasiriporn in 1998. The team's 72-hole score of 1,164 also eclipsed the previous school record of 1,179, set at last year's championships.
Only Arizona and Arizona State have had more individual medalists than Duke at the NCAA Championships. Both Arizona schools boast four women's golf national champions, while the Blue Devils are tied for third with Texas, Georgia and Tulsa, each of whom have had two women's champions.
Duke won its second national title in the past four seasons, having also claimed the crown in 1999. Six teams, including the Blue Devils, have accounted for 17 of the 21 titles won in women's golf since the NCAA first recognized the sport in 1982. Arizona State has accounted for six of those 17 titles, San Jose State has won three, and Duke, Arizona, Florida and Tulsa have won two each.
The Blue Devils are undefeated in the year 2002, having won seven consecutive tournaments dating back to last fall. Duke was last defeated at the Auburn Derby-Tiger Invitational in Auburn, Ala., last Nov. 9-11. The Blue Devils' title is the sixth in the history of the school. Duke has won two women's golf titles, three men's basketball titles and one title in men's soccer. Golf is the only women's sport to boast a national title at Duke.
Following is a list of the top-10 individual rounds (plus ties) at this week's championships. Interestingly, Duke's Virada Nirapathpongporn and Georgia's Summer Sirmons, are the only ones of the seven lowest single-round scorers to finish in the top-10. Perhaps not coincidentally, the two are also the only competitors with multiple rounds under 70. Also interestingly, six of the tournament's 14 sub-70 rounds were fired on the second day of action:
| Score | Name | School | Round |
| 67 | Kristin Dufour | Texas | 4th |
| 67 | Louise Friberg | Washington | 3rd |
| 67 | Lisa Meldrum | Oklahoma | 2nd |
| 68 | Candy Hannemann | Duke | 4th |
| 68 | Jimin Kang | Arizona State | 3rd |
| 68 | Virada Nirapathpongporn | Duke | 1st |
| 68 | Summer Sirmons | Georgia | 2nd |
| 69 | Bess Bowers | Michigan | 3rd |
| 69 | Danielle Downey | Auburn | 2nd |
| 69 | Lisa Ferrero | Texas | 2nd |
| 69 | Virada Nirapathpongporn | Duke | 2nd |
| 69 | Stacy Prammanasudh | Tulsa | 4th |
| 69 | Lorena Ochoa | Arizona | 2nd |
| 69 | Summer Sirmons | Georgia | 1st |
For the second-consecutive season, Arizona's Lorena Ochoa left with runner-up honors, this year sharing the second-place trophy with Auburn's Danielle Downey, Georgia's Summer Sirmons and Pepperdine's Lindsey Wright. The 2001 NCAA Player of the Year, Ochoa took second at last year's championships to Duke's Candy Hannemann, losing in a one-hole playoff. This year, Ochoa was done in by another Blue Devil, sophomore Virada Nirapathpongporn, who equaled the NCAA record with a four-round total of 279.
After falling behind by 20 strokes with a team score of 305 on Tuesday, the Texas Longhorns stormed back into contention with rounds of 286 and 285 over the next two rounds, the latter a school-record for a single round. Texas' rounds, in fact, were two of the four lowest of the entire tournament. Perhaps not surprisingly, three of the top four teams on the final leaderboard posted two rounds among then top-10 lowest this week. Following are the top-10 lowest rounds (including ties) by a team at this week's championship, five of which were posted on the tournament's final day:
| Score | School | Round |
| 285 | Arizona | 1st |
| 285 | Auburn | 3rd |
| 285 | Texas | 3rd |
| 286 | Texas | 2nd |
| 287 | Duke | 4th |
| 287 | Auburn | 4th |
| 289 | Michigan State | 4th |
| 289 | Oklahoma | 2nd |
| 290 | Duke | 3rd |
| 290 | Oklahoma | 4th |
| 290 | Oklahoma State | 4th |
Texas finished in a tie for second with a four-round total of 1,170, marking the team's third-consecutive top-three finish at NCAAs and fifth straight top-10 placing. The Longhorns' best NCAA finish was a second-place result in 1993. Much of Texas' success came on the club of senior Kristin Dufour, who carded the low round of the day with a five-under 67 to equal the school record set by Heather Bowie at the 1997 NCAA West Regional. Dufour's fourth-round score also equaled the Washington National course record set twice this week, by Oklahoma's Lisa Meldrum on Wednesday, and by Washington's Louise Friberg on Thursday.
In the battle of first-time participants, Michigan edged Vanderbilt by two strokes. The Wolverines placed 17th overall at 47-over in their NCAA Championships debut, establishing a school-record 72-hole score of 1,199 in the process. The program's previous best was a mark of 1,216 at the 2000 Big Ten Championships.
Much of Michigan's success was due to the strong play of senior Bess Bowers. Bowers fired a career-best 69 on Thursday, and posted a second round under par with a 71 on Friday, marking just the second and third times she had ever scored under par in her career. Bowers' 72-hole total of 291, which tied her for 15th overall, shattered Michigan's school record by 11 strokes. Two other Wolverines' golfers also broke the old record of 302 (established by Sharon Park in 1999), as freshman Laura Olin carded a 300 and senior Misia Lemanski notched a 301.
USC's 14th-place finish marked the first time in the past five years that the Trojans have placed outside the top-seven. However, an injury to senior Leila Chartrand left the Trojans with just four players for the duration of the tournament, forcing the team to score each of its competitive rounds.
The 2002 Division I Women's Golf Championships were attended by 1,625 fans over the course of the tournament's four days. Hosting rights now pass from the University of Washington to Purdue University, which will host the 2003 championships at Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind.
Washington National's 10th hole was the only one to rank among the top-two in stroke average (relative to par) each day. The hole played as the most difficult on Wednesday and Friday, and was the second most-difficult each of the other two days.
Quick hits: Duke's players notched five birdies in the last three holes to seal the championship win ... Florida's Andrea Vander Lende was the only freshman to finish in the top-15; she placed 12th with a foour-round total of 290 ... this year's championships marked the first time since 1997 (Ohio State) that there was not a weather delay during play ... Kent State's Martina Gillen was the top-finishing individual golfer (competing without a team) ... Gillen finished in a tie for 13th at 3-over; LSU's Meredith Duncan, the reigning U.S. Amateur Champion, was the second-highest individual finisher, tying for 19th at 4-over.
