AUBURN, Wash. -- For the second year in a row, the best female collegiate golfer in the country wears a Duke uniform.
Sophomore Virada "Oui" Nirapathpongporn dethroned defending champion, teammate Candy Hannemann Friday. Nirapathpongporn shot a nine-under-par 279 to claim individual honors, while at the same time trimming the Duke record for an individual, four-round score by six strokes. She led from the outset, posting a four-under-par 68 to begin the tournament Tuesday and never looked back. When the dust settled, she held a five-stroke advantage over four golfers who shared second place.
Auburn's Danielle Downey, Georgia's Summer Sirmons and Pepperdine's Lindsey Wright all held a share of silver, along with Arizona's Lorena Ochoa, whom many had predicted would win the event.
Ochoa stayed close, trailing Nirapathpongporn by only three strokes throughout most of the final round.
But disaster struck for Ochoa on the 17th hole, when her second shot soared toward the green but arched too far right and landed in a small waterfall. She salvaged a bogey on the hole, but by then Nirapathpongporn's title--and her team's--was etched in stone.
Duke coach Dan Brooks said he knew Nirapathpongporn could make a run at the individual title. But he added that other Duke athletes could just as easily have assumed that role.
"I knew Candy [Hannemann] and Leigh Anne [Hardin] could be there," he said. "I knew we had someone who could come down and win this thing."
It is the second time this season that Nirapathpongporn has captured top individual honors at a tournament. She also won the Bryan National Collegiate tournament in early April.
"I just kept going," Nirapathpongporn said, "playing my game."
Many observers, including her coach, characterize her as emotionless on the course. "She's a real team player," Brooks said. "You can't tell if she's had a real tough day."
During the week, Nirapathpongporn was a model of consistency, scoring at par or below each day. "The whole way I just kept thinking... keep going for it," she said. "It might come down to a shot, two shots."
Brooks said he enjoyed the opportunity to coach her and her teammates. "It's pretty neat to be involved with people like this," he said. "You get the icing and the cake with these kids."
Nirapathpongporn said she planned on returning to Duke for two more years to golf with Brooks and the team. But no matter how successful those years may be, this moment will be hard to top.
"I dreamed of winning this thing," she said. "And it came true."
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