Hot Finish Keeps Ducks In Third Entering Monday

Sunday, May 18

All Day

University of Oregon

NCAA Championships

05/18/25 | Women's Golf

Live Scoring

By: Nate Krueger

CARLSBAD, Calif. – No. 5 Oregon caught fire over the final four holes of Sunday's third round at the NCAA Women's Golf Championships to hold firm in third place entering the final day of stroke play at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

After shooting even par in the opening round and 1 over on Saturday, it was more of the same for much of Sunday as UO sat at 2 over through 14 holes. But four of Oregon's five players made birdie on No. 15, igniting a stretch of seven total birdies and just one bogey between holes 15 and 18 to secure the Ducks' best round of the weekend thus far with a 3-under 285.

"That was a big finish for us today," head coach Derek Radley said. "We were playing solid golf but weren't putting a bunch of red numbers on the scorecard early on. That's a difficult finishing stretch to the golf course so to see those birdies start falling to end the round was important for our positioning on the leaderboard and also was big for our team from a confidence standpoint."

Oregon is one of just three teams in the field under par for the tournament, easily making the top-15 cut for the final round of stroke play in third place at 2 under. No. 1 Stanford leads the field at 23 under with No. 11 Northwestern six strokes ahead of the Ducks for second at 6 under.

The top eight teams following Monday's final round will advance to match play, which Oregon is looking to do for the third time in the last four seasons. The Ducks are currently 10 strokes ahead of eighth-place South Carolina (+8) and 13 shots ahead of ninth-place Arizona State (+11).

"We're pleased with where we are after three rounds but know we still have to come out here and take care of business tomorrow," Radley said. "We're going to continue to be aggressive and try to put together our best round yet to advance into match play."

How it Happened: It was a very balanced day for Oregon's lineup as all four counting scorers shot par-or-better, and the Ducks' throwaway score was a 1-over 73 from freshman Tong An. Through three rounds, no Duck has shot worse than 2-over par.

Freshman Suvichaya Vinijchaitham led the way with a 2-under 70 and is the top Duck on the leaderboard in a tie for eighth at 3 under. The NCAA individual champion will be crowned after Monday's round, with Arkansas' Maria Jose Marin currently leading at 9-under par.

Vinijchaitham was even-par through nine holes and made bogey at No. 10 but was error-free the rest of the way. She made birdie at No. 12 and again at No. 15 to get to 1 under, and for the second straight day provided a highlight finish for the Ducks by sticking her approach shot and draining a birdie putt.

Sophomore Ting-Hsuan Huang was right behind Vinijchaitham with a 1-under 71 as the duo shot par-or-better for the third straight day. Huang was even through 14 holes with three birdies and three bogeys before a terrific approach shot set up a birdie on the 15th, and she finished out with three consecutive pars.

Huang is one stroke back of Vinijchaitham overall at 2 under, entering Monday in a tie for 13th individually. Vinijchaitham and Huang are looking to join sophomore Kiara Romero as the only Ducks ever to shoot under par in a 72-hole tournament – Romero shot 4 under at last year's NCAA Championships to tie for sixth overall.

Junior Anika Varma continues to be a tremendous story for the Ducks, firing a second straight even-par 72 after subbing into the lineup. Varma has now competed in eight rounds for Oregon this season and has shot even par in each of her last three.

Varma paced Oregon on the front nine for the second day in a row, making the turn at 1 under par. She was 1 over on the back nine, but once again played mostly mistake-free with just one bogey and eight pars.

Romero bounced back from an uncharacteristic round on Saturday to contribute an even-par 72 on Sunday. The Big Ten Golfer of the Year was 2 over through 14 holes before making back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16, and she finished out with a pair of pars to card her team-leading 25th par-or-better round of the season.

An subbed back into Oregon's lineup after resting on Saturday, taking sophomore Karen Tsuru's spot and shooting 1 under across her final 10 holes to card a 1-over 73.

Ducks on the Leaderboard:
3. #5 Oregon – 288-289-285 – 862 (-2)
T8. Suvichaya Vinijchaitham – 71-72-70 – 213 (-3)
T13. Ting-Hsuan Huang – 71-72-71 – 214 (-2)
T28. Kiara Romero – 72-74-72 – 218 (+2)
NA. Anika Varma – Sub-72-72 – 144 (E)
NA. Tong An – 74-Sub-73 – 147 (+3)
NA. Karen Tsuru – 74-73-Sub – 147 (+3)

What it Means: Oregon is currently in position to advance to NCAA match play for the third time in the last four years, after finishing as the national runners-up in 2022 and reaching the semifinals at Omni La Costa last spring. The Ducks' performance through three rounds is especially impressive given the substitutions in the lineup, and the best could still be yet to come for Oregon if Romero can get hot after less-than-usual production from the all-American to this point.

Up Next: Oregon will be in the final pairing for Monday's final round of stroke play, teeing off of hole No. 1 along with Stanford and Northwestern beginning at 12:40 p.m. PT. The top eight teams following Monday's action will advance to match play on Tuesday.