CARLSBAD, Calif. – Duke women’s golf senior Phoebe Brinker carded a final round of even-par, 72, on Monday to conclude action at the NCAA Championship in a tie for 10th, which was being contested at the 6,297-yard, par-72 Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course in Carlsbad, Calif.
With her finish, Brinker became just the 10th Blue Devil to register multiple top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championship joining a list of former and current Duke alumnae in the professional ranks — Gina Kim, Leona Maguire, Celine Boutier, Lindy Duncan, Amanda Blumenherst, Jennie Lee, Anna Grzebien, Virada Nirapathpongporn and Candy Hannemann.
Brinker, a native of Wilmington, Del., carded rounds of 69, 73, 74 and 72 for an even-par, 288, over the four days.
As a team, Duke placed tied for 14th, which marked Blue Devil head coach Dan Brooks’ 30th top-15 finish of his career in NCAA Championship action.
How It Happened
Phoebe Brinker opened her day with a 5-footer for birdie on No. 10 and then held tough with an up-and-down par on No. 12 and a sand save for par on No. 13 to remain in the red. She then hit her 50-degree wedge from 100 yards to three feet for birdie on the 386-yard, par-4 14th. Brinker had another sand save for par on No. 15 and up-and-down par on No. 16 to remain at 2-under-par. She rolled in a 4-footer for birdie on No. 17, but got in trouble with her second shot on the par-5 No. 18 and finished with a bogey. Brinker then dropped a total of four shots over a span of six holes to fall to 1-over for the day. She got up-and-down for par on No. 6 and then hit her 54-degree wedge from 100 yards for birdie on No. 7 to get back to even and parred the final two holes to finish with a 72. She hit 12 fairways, nine greens and had a team-best 28 putts.
Senior Anne Chen signed for a 2-over, 74, in the final round and placed tied for 43rd overall with a 297.She parred the first four holes and then hit her pitching wedge from 128 yards to one foot for birdie on No. 14.She suffered bogeys on No. 16 and No. 2 to fall to 1-over, but came back to hit her 50-degree wedge to six feet from 107 yards on No. 4 to notch another birdie.After a bogey on No. 5, Chen once again got back to even with a 2-footer for birdie on No. 7.The Sugar Land, Texas native closed the day with back-to-back bogeys to finish with a 74.She hit 13 fairways, 12 greens and had 31 putts on the day.
Rookie Katie Li carded 13 pars on Monday and finished with a 77.She was limited to only one birdie, which came on her final hole – No. 9.Li, who is from Basking Ridge, N.J., hit her 9-iron from 119 yards to five feet for the birdie.She hit 11 greens, nine fairways and had 33 putts on the day.
Both Emma McMyler and Andie Smith closed the event with a 78.
McMyler, who is from San Antonio, Texas, couldn’t get things going in the final round as she was held to only one birdie, which came on her final collegiate hole.In her last approach shot as a college golfer, she couldn’t have asked for a much better shot as she hit her 8-iron from 134 yards to less than a foot for birdie on the 364-yard, par-4 ninth hole.She hit 12 greens, seven fairways and had 34 putts.
After turning in an even-par, 72, in the second round, Smith struggled to finish the event the last two days.She collected six up-and-downs on the day, but couldn’t sink a birdie as she finished with 32 putts, 10 greens and 11 fairways.
Notes
Phoebe Brinker concluded her career with 351 birdies to finish in a tie for fifth along with Anna Grzebien (351) on Duke’s all-time charts.
Brinker also finished tied for seventh with 15 rounds in the 60s, first in eagles (10) and tied for seventh with 52 even or under par rounds.
Over four seasons, Brinker totaled 14 top-10 finishes and 20 top-20 placements.She also finished with a pair of victories, including the 2022 ACC Championship.
Brinker’s 15 birdies ranked tied for sixth among the field.
As a team, Duke placed 14th overall with rounds of 286, 293, 304 and 301 for a total of 1,184.
Stanford (1,154) and LSU (1,154) finished in a tie for first, while Texas A&M (1,157), Southern California (1,165), Clemson (1,170), UCLA (1,171), Oregon (1,171) and Auburn (1,172) finished in the top eight to advance to match play.
Duke finished the week in a tie for last with an 18-over-par score on par-5 holes, after finishing the NCAA Regional at 28-under-par.The Blue Devils entered the week with a 106-under-par score on par-5 holes on the year.
The Blue Devils finished with 46 birdies for the week, but only had nine in the final round.
Emma McMyler tied for first on the par-3 holes with a 2-under-par score.
In her first appearance in the NCAA Championship, McMyler tied for 43rd with rounds of 71, 73, 76 and 78 for a 298.
Quotes
“I’m happy for Phoebe that she shot even par for the tournament on one of the most difficult courses we’ve ever played.Really a special way to wind up her career.”– Duke head coach Dan Brooks on the finish for senior Phoebe Brinker
“It’s disappointing to not be playing tomorrow. We have a lot of depth, which would have helped us in match play.We had a great group this season. Very team oriented.It was a lot of fun.” — Duke head coach Dan Brooks
“I’m really happy with how I finished and overall just really happy to be leaving my college golf career on a high note. I’m really proud of myself for how I fought on this golf course. And it hasn’t really been the spring that I wanted. So, to end it this way, was truly the best thing I could have imagined.”– Duke senior Phoebe Brinker
