Behind sophomore Anna Grzebien's individual title, top-ranked Duke won the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships by five strokes on Friday at the Sunriver Resort's Meadows Course. Grzebien entered the round with a four-shot lead and held on for a one-stroke victory with a 2-over-par 73.
During the morning of round four, conditions on the par-71, 6,312-yard course were overcast and windy, but with only a few spots of light rain. The afternoon rounds, which featured the leaders, were played under darker skies and more rain.
Duke (+34, 292-303-278-297=1,170) began the day with an eight-shot lead, and kept a comfortable lead until the very end of the round. Besides Grzebien, Duke's other scorers were sophomore Brittany Lang (even-par 71), junior Elizabeth Janangelo (1-over-par 72) and senior Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh (10-over-par 81).
Defending national champion UCLA (+39, 288-302-292-293=1,175) came in second place, followed by Auburn (+40, 290-296-295-295=1,176)
Duke's Grzebien (+2, 73-75-65-73=286) was even-par through three rounds and had a four-shot lead to start the day. Virginia sophomore Leah Wigger (+3, 73-72-73-69=287) put some pressure on by shooting a 2-under-par 69 during the morning rounds, giving her a four-round total of 3-over-par as the afternoon groups teed off.
Grzebien had two bogies and no birdies on the front nine, putting her at 2-over-par for the tournament and giving her a precarious one-stroke lead over Wigger. Grzebien found some breathing room when she birdied the par-14 12th hole. But after three straight pars, she bogied the par-3 16th hole, again giving her a one-stroke lead.
Grzebien missed a short birdie putt on the 17th hole and settled for par. On the par-4 18th, she found the green in two, but was about 25 feet from the cup. She got her first putt to within about four feet, and later calmly sank her second and final putt for the title.
Wigger finished in second place, while UCLA freshman Amie Cochran (71-79-70-68) and Duke's Lang (74-75-68-71) tied for third place at a 4-over-par 288.
Auburn sophomore Nicole Hage (73-75-70-71) was fifth at a 5-over-par 289, while California senior Claire Dury (74-73-72-71) and Pepperdine junior Carolina Llano (69-77-72-72) tied for sixth with a 6-over-par 290.
LSU senior Brooke Shelton (71-75-72-73) and Oklahoma State senior Annie Thurman-Young (75-75-73-68) tied for eighth at a 7-over-par 291. Washington junior Paige Mackenzie (+8, 72-74-73-73=292) and Southern California freshman Dewi-Claire Schreefel (70-74-74-74) tied for 10th at an 8-over-par 292.
Rounding out the top 10 in the team race, Pepperdine (+43, 291-295-299-294=1,179) took fourth, followed by California (+44, 295-299-296-290=1,180) in fifth. Tennessee (+51, 300-303-299-285=1,187) and Ohio State (+51, 301-296-300-290=1,187) tied for sixth. Arizona State (+54, 303-301-297-289=1,190) and Oklahoma State (+54, 298-306-299-287=1,190) tied for eighth. Florida (+59, 301-304-297-293=1,195) was 10th.
The best individual rounds of the day were turned in by UCLA's Cochran and Oklahoma State's Thurman-Young, who each shot a 3-under-par 68. Virginia's Wigger and Tulane sophomore Mary Ellen Jacobs each had 2-under-par 69s.
The best team rounds on Friday were by Tennessee, which had a 1-over-par 285 (moving the Lady Volunteers from a tie for 10th place to a a tie for sixth place), and Tulane, which shot a 2-over-par 286 (moving the Green Wave from 20th place to 15th place).