ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - It wasn't exactly the finish she had hoped for, but even though her team came up a little short, Amanda Blumenherst did exactly what she had to do.
The Duke junior entered the NCAA Championship as one of two legitimate contenders for National Player of the Year with Arkansas' Stacy Lewis-last year's individual national champion. Blumenherst had won four tournaments this year to Lewis' six, but faced much tougher competition to earn her titles, leaving the race very much alive.
All Blumenherst needed was to finish ahead of Lewis to capture her third straight Player of the Year crown. And when all the golfers had walked off the 18th green, Blumenherst had secured the individual record-setting feat.
"It's so exciting," she said. "It was my goal. I did it two years in a row and no one's done it three, probably because everyone goes pro. But it was my goal to do it three times in a row."
But it took some late heroics for the Blue Devil to secure her honor.
Entering the last day of play Friday, Blumenherst was four strokes back of Lewis. The first nine holes did nothing to help her cause, as a double bogey on No. 18 left the Duke junior four strokes behind the Razorback heading into the turn.
The latter nine proved to be the difference for Blumenherst, who finally started to show signs she was two-time reigning National Player of the Year.
On the first, Blumenherst birdied for the second time all day to bring her score to par. Unfortunately for Lewis, the Blue Devil was just getting started.
"That double [bogey] is most probably the best thing that happened," Blumenherst said. "It got me angry and I was just ready to tear up the backside.... On No. 1, I knew I was going to make birdie before I even teed up."
Blumenherst continued to shoot well as she recorded a birdie on the third and seventh to bring her to a tie with Lewis with only two holes left.
On the eighth hole, Blumenherst finally took the lead over her rival as she eagled the par-4. She hit a gap wedge about 103 yards and the ball rolled back eight yards into the hole for her fifth eagle of the year. Lewis birdied her penultimate hole, but Blumenherst hung on to her one-stroke advantage to capture the title.
Her fifth-place finish ensured that she ranked in the top five of all 11 tournaments this year, and in the top 10 of all 32 tournaments she has competed in as a Blue Devil-a new school record.
With plenty of accolades already in hand, the junior plans on adding to her accomplishments next year-starting with a fourth consecutive National Player of the Year.
"It's great that I set one record," she said. "But I'm going to try to make it really hard to beat."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.