SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Rose Zhang was in unfamiliar territory as she began Monday’s final round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship. Typically, the Stanford sophomore enters these types of moments with the lead – sometimes a commanding lead – before often switching to cruise control down the stretch. This time, though, she was the chaser, four shots back of USC freshman Catherine Park.
Different fashion, same result.
Zhang caught Park, passed her, then calmly held on for a one-shot victory as the 19-year-old superstar became the first women's player to ever win consecutive NCAA individual titles.