HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. -- After two straight days with a grasp on the top slot, the No. 1 women's golf team fell apart.
Shooting for their second national championship in three years, Duke took a four-stroke lead into the final day over Georgia, but an uncharacteristic 7-over-par start on the first three holes erased Duke's lead, and the Blue Devils found themselves in the unusual position of second place. They were never able to recover and eventually lost by three strokes to the Bulldogs at the women's NCAA championship at Mission Inn Golf Resort.
"They fought hard," said Duke coach Dan Brooks. "We lost a lot of shots early in the round, but then settled down and played hard. We've won a lot and been in the lead all year, so I figured we would get a few strokes back and that Georgia would falter a bit, but they didn't. We needed to play better at the beginning. I don't know why we didn't play our normal golf, but we didn't for one-eighth of the round and that's just the game."
The only one of the Blue Devils to shoot under par on the final day was junior Candy Hannemann, who finished with a 3-under 69 and tied for first place in the individual standings. Hannemann eventually beat Arizona's Lorena Ochoa by hitting a six-foot putt in the sudden death playoff to take home individual medalist honors.
"I started birdie, par, par, birdie, so I thought everything was going great," Hannemann said. "I was a little surprised when I saw the scoreboard. There are so many tough holes out there, and things can change so fast, so I didn't panic at all."
Even though Hannemann was having one of the best rounds of the tournament, the rest of the Blue Devils were simply off. Virada Nirapathpongporn, who had anchored the team with a solid dose of pars, shot a 3-over 75. Kalen Anderson was also at 75, which tied her best round of the tournament, but was by no means as low as she would have liked. And, Kristina Engstrom, who fired an even-par 72 earlier in the week, finished with a 7-over 79.
"Going into it we knew had to fight hard no matter where we stand," Anderson said. "Unfortunately we had to fight really hard really quickly. Like Coach said, that is just the way golf is. It wasn't as easy for us today as it could have been."
The problems of freshman Leigh Anne Hardin also added to the Blue Devils' final-round difficulties. The Indiana native started feeling ill after the Blue Devils' third round and, as a result, most of her night before the finals was sleepless. The illness definitely affected her final round, forcing her to shoot a week-high 78.
"I think it affected her some," Brooks said of Hardin's illness. "She was actually having a little wave of that stuff early when she hit a drive on the first hole out-of-bounds. It is hard to say how much of an effect it had on her--sometimes you play better when you're sick because you don't think too much. She didn't make excuses, but I could tell it bothered her a bit. It came in waves, and some of the walking in the hot weather on those hills is tough."
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, the Bulldogs were able to capitalize on their opponents' rough start, erasing Duke's lead and maintaining their own early in the round.
However, the Blue Devils did not give up and actually began to threaten late, beginning with Kalen Anderson's two birdies on 17 and 18. Meanwhile, Georgia faltered briefly, with everyone on its team except for Whitney Christie, whose high score was thrown out, bogeying 16. With the brief falter Duke pulled within three strokes, but it was not enough for the Bulldogs to lose control.
After Hardin and Engstrom pared their final two holes, Nirapathpongporn and Hannemann both birdied 17. Hannemann's birdie came after she hit a 150-yard second shot to reach the long par-five green in two. But the Bulldogs kept pace, led by redshirt sophomore Summer Sirmons and junior Reilley Rankin both of whom matched their Blue Devil playing partners at with birdies.
After Sirmons and Rankin again matched Nirapathpongporn and Hannemann with superb approaches on 18, there was little the Blue Devils could do.
"Duke got off to a poor start, which was unusual, because they are such a good team," Georgia coach Todd McCorkle said. "I never thought my team was intimidated even though Duke's a great team."
The victory was the second straight for McCorkle, who also won last year with Arizona. It also marked the second time in two years Duke has finished near the top of the leaderborad, winning the national championship back in 1999. And Duke looks to challenge for a national championship again next year. The dominant Blue Devils, who won a school-record nine titles this year and finished first in the final national rankings, will return everyone but Anderson.
"They're such a good team it's scary," McCorkle said. "I saw Candy and she had that look in her eyes that scared even me. You don't tell Duke to come and get you because they will. We beat them only once this year and that was today."
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