EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon made history Wednesday, winning its first Pac-12 women’s golf championship.
It didn’t end there for the Ducks, as sophomore Cynthia Lu held off all comers, including a late challenge from the nation’s No. 1 player, to win the individual title.
Playing through a persistent rain that softened the fairways and soaked the greens on the Eugene Country Club’s par-72, 6,267-yard course, No. 2 Oregon was 2-over for the day to bring its three-round score 6-over 295-285-290 — 870.
The Ducks were seven shots better than No. 1 Stanford and Oregon State, which tied for second at 13-over 877.
“Wow, just so proud of this group,” Oregon coach Derek Radley said. “What an incredible performance. We talked about it all year, to be able to do this on our home course is extremely special.”
Leading the way for Oregon was Lu, who stormed into the lead during Tuesday’s second round when she shot 6-under, just missing the conference tournament single-round record by one stroke.
Wednesday, she shot even par (35-37 — 72) to bring her three-round total to 6-under 210.
“Cynthia’s a superstar,” Radley said. “We’ve known it from the first day she’s stepped foot on this campus and she just continues to shine and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her for the future.”
Oregon’s only other Pac-12 champion was Caroline Inglis in 2015, though Inglis didn’t have the luxury of a large home crowd watching her finish her round on the 18th green — a crowd that included Lu’s father from Taiwan and several teammates who ran out and doused her with water soon after her final putt went into the hole.
“It was so nice we have people from Eugene, from Oregon, cheering for our team,” Lu said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment and I was really happy. I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world.”
Lu’s sensational second round gave her a four-stroke lead at 6-under heading into Wednesday’s finale, which she opened with birdies on the first and third hole, but also a bogey on the second hole.
“I can’t lie, I was pretty nervous this morning,” Lu said. “I know I’m leading, and our team is leading. But honestly, I’m worried about team score more than mine. It kind of distracted me from my game.”
Stanford’s Rose Zhang, who is No. 1 in GolfStat’s player ranking, was the runner-up at 2-under 214. Zhang, who was tied for the lead after Monday’s opening round and five shots back in fifth place after the second round, shot 1-under 71 on Wednesday, including an eagle on the par-5 16th — her 11th hole of the day after her shotgun start began on the sixth tee — that cut Lu’s lead to two strokes.
But Lu, who started her round on the first tee, got a stroke back with a birdie on the par-4 16th to go back up by three shots and Zhang never got any closer.
No other players finished under par for the tournament, as Arizona’s Carolina Melgrati and UCLA’s Alessia Nobilio tied for third at 1-over 217.
Oregon senior Heather Lin, who was also instrumental in the Ducks’ rise in the standings from fifth place on Monday to the top of the podium by Wednesday, finished in a tie for seventh at 3-over 219.
Lin shot even par Wednesday in what was her best round of the tournament.
“Heather Lin is the heart and sole of this team,” Radley said.
Briana Chacon also provided a steady hand on Wednesday as she shot even par to finish tied for 13th at 5-over 221.
Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen, who was at 10-over after the first 25 holes, had an impressive rally as she played the next 27 at 1-under to finish in a tie for 31st place at 9-over 225.
Ching-Tzu Chen finished in a tie for 36th at 11-over 227.
Oregon’s previous best team finish was second place in 2015. The only other time it placed in the top three was in 2010 when it was third.
“Our team proved that we are the best team in the country,” Lin said.
The Ducks will get a chance to prove with NCAA Regionals (May 9-11) and the NCAA Championships (May 20-25) coming up next.
Oregon State (296-296-285 — 877) had a strong final day, led by Kelsey Webster who finished tied for fifth at 1-over 2018.
Also for the Beavers, Ellie Slama was tied for 13th at 5-over 221; Chayse Gomez was tied for 19th at 6-over 222; and Madde Sund and Issy Taylor were tied for 22nd at 7-over 223.
Reigning two-time champion USC (292-292-300 — 884) was tied for fifth and Arizona State (294-286-309 — 889), which began Wednesday tied with Oregon for first place, had a disastrous final round as the Sun Devils were 21 over to drop to to seventh place.
[lawrence-related id=778205545]