On To Match Play For Ducks

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Oregon women’s golf team continues to make history, though the best chapter possible still remains to be written.

Fresh off the first Pac-12 Conference and NCAA Regional titles in program history, the Ducks on Monday wrapped up the stroke-play portion of the NCAA Championship tournament in second place, another program first. The UO women were 3 over in the fourth round Monday to finish 12 over in stroke play, three strokes behind Stanford.

The Ducks thus claimed the No. 2 seed into the match-play quarterfinals, and will meet San Jose State in that round Tuesday morning. The winner will advance to a semifinal matchup later Tuesday, and then potentially Wednesday’s final — where Oregon hopes to contend for its first ever national title.

But first, the UO women were able to celebrate Monday’s accomplishment: making it to match play, one year after coming up just two strokes short. Oregon finished 20 strokes ahead of the cut line to advance through to Tuesday.

“This was the dream; this was the goal,” UO coach Derek Radley said. “This team is so special. To finish second in the stroke-play portion and cruise through to match play, we’re just so solid from top to bottom, and that’s the thing I think I’m most excited about as we advance to match play.”

The Ducks also celebrated a fifth-place individual finish by senior Tze-Han (Heather) Lin, who finished at even par for the four rounds of stroke play on 6,340-yard Grayhawk Golf Club. Lin was 2 over on Monday, finishing six strokes behind medalist Rose Zhang of Stanford.

How It Happened: On a day when Stanford shot its worst round of the tournament, the Ducks struggled to take advantage early on. They took three bogeys at No. 1, two more at No. 3 and another at No. 4.

For the second day in a row it was the player whose score the previous round wasn’t counted — in this case Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen — who recorded Oregon’s first birdie of the day. She put her second shot on the par-4 third hole within 5 feet, and made the putt to get to 1 under for the day.

Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu and Ching-Tzu Chen then both went birdie-birdie at No. 6 and No. 7, and Chen made it three in a row at No. 8. Briana Chacon, meanwhile, stuck a wedge within a few feet of the pin to make birdie at No. 7, then made another at No. 9 to get to 2 under for the day.

At that point, Oregon had snuck into the tournament lead at 8 over, while Stanford had fallen to 10 over and Texas A&M was in between at 9 over.

The Ducks…