CARLSBAD, Calif. — Paula Martin Sampedro rallied from 3 down with five holes to play Tuesday to win her opening match as top-seeded Stanford overcame a sluggish start to beat Virginia in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.
Stanford, the No. 1 seed after a record score to finish 27 shots ahead of Oregon to qualify for match play, trailed early in two other matches before going to a 3 1/2-1 1/2 victory.
Oregon nearly didn’t make it out of the quarterfinals. The Ducks appeared to have victory in hand until Tong An lost a 3-up lead with six holes to play. An holed a short putt on the 20th hole to beat Lauren Kim of Texas and send Oregon into the semifinals.
Lottie Woad, No. 1 in the women’s amateur world ranking, and Mirabel Ting carried Florida State to victory over Southern Cal, while Northwestern rallied to knock off Arkansas. Hsin Tai Lin of Northwestern beat Maria Jose Marin, the Arkansas sophomore who won the NCAA title in stroke play.
Stanford played Florida State, and Oregon faced Northwestern in the semifinal matches Tuesday afternoon. The championship match is Wednesday. Stanford is going for its third NCAA title in the last four years.
