Myah McDonald had to earn her first individual collegiate golf title, closing with birdies on three of her final four holes to claim medalist honors at The Show at Spanish Trail Country Club in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
The New Mexico junior and 2020 Mid-Pacific alumna finished at 9-under 209 to win by two shots and beat a tournament field that included 10 players ranked in the top 100 in college.
McDonald closed with a 3-under 69 and finished under par in every round.
“It feels great. It’s something I definitely wouldn’t have expected coming into this tournament, but it was nice to finally get my confidence going and have the momentum going into the next couple of weeks,” McDonald said.
McDonald started the final round on the par-4 fourth hole, tied for the lead. She was 1 under in the round when she posted back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14 to trail runner-up Anna Zanusso of Denver by one shot.
Playing in the same group as Zanusso, McDonald responded with a birdie on the par-4 15th to gain back a share of the lead and then closed out the win with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 18 and 1 and then another on her closing hole, the par-4 third, for good measure.
“The last hole I got pretty nervous. First tee kind of nervous,” McDonald said. “I knew I had a chance at winning, although I didn’t know my standing, so I tried to take a lot of deep breaths and try to focus on the present.
“The drive didn’t go as expected, but I managed to get a birdie out of it, and so overall it was a really great feeling.”
McDonald is the second Lobo to win individual medalist honors this season.
Her previous best finish of the academic year was a tie for 23rd place in the fall season opener hosted by New Mexico.
She had only one round under par in her previous 12 before opening with five birdies en route to a 68 on Monday. She followed with a 70 in the afternoon to set up Tuesday’s finish.
“What an amazing victory for Myah as she was 3 under on her last four holes to get the win,” New Mexico coach Jill Trujillo said in a press release. “That shows amazing nerves of steel.”
The Lobos next play the first of three tournaments in three weeks at the Clover Cup in Mesa, Ariz., on March 10-12. After that they will have three weeks off before the Mountain West Conference Championships in Palm Springs, Calif., April 18-20.
