For the second straight year, Jennifer Kupcho is back at the top of the leaderboard going into the final round of the Women’s NCAA Championship Finals. Now she just wants a slightly different ending to the script.
The Westminster resident, who led after the first two rounds of this year’s tournament in Stillwater, Okla., remained tied for the top spot after 54 holes as the Wake Forest junior shot a 2-under-par 70 on Sunday.
Kupcho, the No. 3-ranked women’s amateur in the world, will take a 7-under 209 total into Monday’s nationally televised final round (2-6 p.m. MT on Golf Channel). Also at that figure is Alabama junior Cheyenne Knight, who likewise carded a third-round 70. Kupcho will tee off for the final round at 12:40 p.m. MT on Monday.
One stroke behind the leaders are Jaclyn Lee of Ohio State (66 Sunday) and Bianca Pagdanganan of Arizona.
It’s a remarkably similar position as Kupcho was in last year. In 2017, she took a one-stroke lead into the final round of the NCAA Finals. And she went on to lead — or at least share the lead — through the first 16 holes of the final round. But a triple bogey on her penultimate hole — where her wedge shot on the par-4 17th hole hit the bank short of the green and rolled back into the water — led to a runner-up finish.
And now Kupcho (pictured) is back for another run at the NCAA individual title after finishing second as a sophomore and sixth as a freshman. And if she’s successful this time, she’ll become the first person to grow up in Colorado and capture a Women’s NCAA Division I individual title.
Kupcho — winner of six individual college victories in her career, including three this season — made four birdies and two bogeys in Sunday’s round, when she was paired with University of Colorado senior Brittany Fan, who defeated Kupcho in the semifinals of the 2015 CWGA Match Play. The Wake Forest golfer, who will play on the U.S. Curtis Cup team next month, has added a 74 and a 70 to the women’s course record-tying 65 she shot in Friday’s first round at Karsten Creek.
On Sunday Kupcho was 3 under par through 12 holes and alone in the lead, but bogeyed 13 and 15 before closing with a birdie.
After Sunday’s third round, the field was cut to 15 teams plus the top nine individuals not on those teams. Those teams and individuals will play the final stroke play round on Monday, when the individual champion will be determined, along with the eight teams that will advance to match play.
CU, competing in the Women’s NCAA Finals for the first time since 2012, ended up on the wrong side of the cut line on Sunday and saw its season end as a team. The Buffs finished in 19th place out of the 24-team field. They shot a 9-over-par 297 total on Sunday to post a three-day tally of 40-over 904.
While her teammates are done for the season, CU sophomore Robyn Choi, who qualified in Colorado Monday for her second straight U.S. Women’s Open, made the 54-hole cut as an individual. She shares 24th place at 4-over-par 220 after a third-round 70.
Kupcho’s Wake Forest squad also failed to make the team cut as four schools tied for 15th place, but Louisville moved on as it had the best dropped scores of the four. Kupcho will advance to Monday as an individual.
Coloradan Hannah Wood saw her college career end as her Oklahoma team finished in 20th place at 905. Individually, Wood placed 67th at 227.
Women’s NCAA Division I Finals
May 18-21, 2018 in Stillwater, Okla.
19. (out of 24 teams) Colorado 306-301-297–904
24. Robyn Choi 75-75-70–220
42. Brittany Fan 75-74-74–223
67. Kirsty Hodgkins 74-77-76–227
104. Alisha Lau 82-75-77–234
127. Gillian Vance 82-79-85–246
Also
T1. Coloradan Jennifer Kupcho, Wake Forest 65-74-70–209
67. Coloradan Hannah Wood, Oklahoma 77-77-73–227
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
