Maria José Marin Wins Individual NCAA Title, Arkansas Advances to Match Play

CARLSBAD, Calif. – After 72 holes at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Arkansas sophomore Maria José Marin fired a 12-under par 274 to claim the program’s third individual championship.

José Marin won the title, her third of the year and fourth overall, by two strokes over Florida State’s Mirabel Ting. The 12-under score to par is tied for the third best individual score at the NCAA Championship, with the record being 16-under. She was at or under par in each of the four rounds.

The Cali, Colombia, native was the overnight leader by one stroke prior to Monday’s final round of stroke play at 9-under after shooting a bogey-free 65 on Sunday.

José Marin picked up where she left off with a birdie on the first hole. She then birdied holes 5 and 9 and pushed her lead to two strokes after making the turn.

After three pars to start the back nine, José Marin bogeyed for the first time in 30 holes, on the par 5 13th hole, the hardest hole on the course through all four rounds with a 4.43 stroke average.

After the bogey, José Marin’s lead was cut to one stroke after Stanford’s Kelly Xu birdied No. 11 to get to 10-under. Florida State’s Ting also added pressure to the top and started her back nine with two birdies.

José Marin played the next four holes at even par, Hu double bogeyed the par-3 16th hole and Ting added two more birdies to get to 9-under.

José Marin and Ting, playing in the same group, stepped onto the 18th tee separated by two shots. Both birdied the 497 yard par-5 and José Marin clinched the NCAA title in style, with a 15-foot putt to get to 12-under.

“That last putt was nerve wracking,” José Marin said in an interview on Golf Channel. “I did know what was happening, but didn’t know entirely what was going on. I was focused on my game, but also on what my team was doing. It meant a lot to sink that putt, for the score and for me personally. I have a mix of emotions right now, but I am so happy.”

With the win, José Marin joined Razorback legends Stacy Lewis (2007) and Maria Fassi (2019) as Arkansas’ NCAA individual champions.

On the team side of things, Arkansas finished stroke play in sixth place and made the cut to advance to the match play portion of the championship. Senior Kendall Todd played her best round of the week with an even 72 and finished T-47th. Freshman Clarisa Temelo and junior Reagan Zibilski each fired off 3-over 73s, with Temelo earning a top 40 finish.

The Hogs will face third-place finisher No. 11 Northwestern in the quarterfinals. Senior Kendall Todd will start things off from the 10th hole at 9:40 a.m. CT. Golf Channel will pick up live coverage at 11:30 a.m. through the end of the round.

Stanford claimed the top seed after a record-setting 27-under in stroke play and will face 8-seed Virginia. Oregon, the only other team to finish under par, will face 7-seed Texas. Florida State and Southern California finished at 4 and 5, respectively, and will face each other for a spot in the semifinals.

The winners of each of the four matches will advance to Tuesday afternoon’s semifinals.

Arkansas last made the match play cut in 2019 and lost to Wake Forest, 3-2.

Lineup & Tee Times (CT)

Dianna Lee vs. Kendall Todd, 9:40 a.m., 10th tee
Elise Lee vs. Reagan Zibilski, 9:50 a.m.
Ashley Yun vs. Abbey Schutte, 10 a.m.
Lauryn Nguyen vs. Clarisa Temelo, 10:10 a.m.
Hsin Tai Lin vs. Maria Jose Marin, 10:20 a.m.

For more information on Arkansas women’s golf, follow @RazorbackWGolf on social media.