No. 2 USC Women’s Golf Falls in National Championship Match

Wednesday, May 27

2:25 p.m. PT

USC

Stanford

The USC women's golf team poses together with the runner-up trophies after the 2026 NCAA Championships

Photo by: John McGillen

No. 2 USC Women’s Golf Falls in National Championship Match

May 27, 2026 | Women's Golf

The Trojans came up short against No. 1 Stanford in their second championship match-play appearance.

CARLSBAD, Calif. — The No. 2 USC Women's Golf team fell to No. 1 Stanford 4-1 in the 2026 NCAA Championships match play final, held at The Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. on Wednesday, May 27.

In a battle between the nation's top two teams, the Trojans fell behind early on the front side in several matches and couldn't quite claw back on the back side. Stanford bolted out to a 2-0 lead in a five-minute span, then prolonged two of the three closest remaining matches before senior Megha Ganne clinched the win on the No. 16 green in the anchor match.

"Unfortunately, we got off to a slow start with some self-inflicted errors," Head Coach Justin Silverstein told the Golf Channel afterwards. "In the first 10 holes, we bogeyed five par-5s and against a team like this that doesn't make a bunch of mistakes, you can't give them that many holes in match play."

USC got its lone point of the day thanks to Kylie Chong, who was 1UP over Andrea Revuelta when the match concluded. Chong fell behind by two on the front side after having three bogeys and a double bogey, yet the sophomore clawed back to tie the match with a birdie on the par-5, No. 10. Chong went up by two after back-to-back bogeys from Revuelta on Nos. 11 and 12, then maintained her two-hole lead after a birdie on No. 15.

She had a chance to win the match twice, but Revuelta birdied No. 17 to hold off Chong for just enough time for Ganne to clinch the match.

In the fourth matchup, Elise Lee went back and forth with Kelly Xu in a match where neither player led by more than one hole. Lee trailed by one throughout the back side but birdied Nos. 14 and 15 to tie the match. A bogey on No. 16 gave Xu the lead for good.

"I'm proud of the way a few of our players bounced back and fought this for a little longer than it looked like it was going to be on the scoreboard," Silverstein said. "I'm proud of Kylie Chong taking that match 1UP onto 18 really good and Elise Lee putting up a good fight against a very, very good match play senior in Kelly Xu. No shame in losing to this Stanford team. I'm very proud of this group and how they battled."

Stanford got on the board first with Meja Örtengren's 6&5 win over Jasmine Koo in the second match, which saw Koo fall behind on No. 3 with the first of five birdies from Örtengren. Koo found trouble with three bogeys on the front side and couldn't recover.

Less than five minutes later, world No. 2 amateur Paula Martín Sampedro capped off a come-from-behind, 3&2 win over Catherine Park. In the final moments of Park's highly decorated USC career, the senior from Irvine, Calif. put herself in prime positions to win holes, yet Martín Sampedro went shot-for-shot with Park and eventually prevailed with two birdies on the back side. Park, who bookended her legendary career with championship match appearances, ends her career as the first Trojan to play in multiple national championship final matches.

As Chong and Lee tried turning the tide for USC, Shoemaker tried getting out of a deficit against Stanford's Megha Ganne in the anchor match. However, Shoemaker couldn't capitalize on birdie looks as while Ganne had four birdies on the day en route to a clinching 4&3 win. Shoemaker had a chance to extend the match with a putt on No. 15, but the miss set up Ganne's winning putt.

The loss put an end to one of the most successful seasons in the history of USC women's golf. The Trojans amassed eight tournament titles this year — the second-most in program history — and rode a seven-tournament win streak heading into the NCAA Championships. USC won its first Big Ten team and individual titles, a nation-leading 16th regional title and the inaugural GameAbove Invitational at its home track at Rolling Hills Country Club. Individually, Koo and Park became ANNIKA Award Finalists, sophomore Kylie Chong, Koo and Park won individual titles at six events, plus Koo's four wins helped her become USC's career wins leader with eight career victories.

"This is still one of the best seasons in the history of USC women's golf," Silverstein said. "We won seven tournaments in a row heading into this week and we were runners-up this week. They have a lot to be proud of. This would've been the cherry on top and would've probably put us in a different category of all-time teams, but unfortunately, it didn't fall our way today."

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRINGS VS. STANFORD
Paula Martín Sampedro (STANFORD) def. Catherine Park (USC) 3&2
Kylie Chong (USC) def. Andrea Revuelta (STANFORD) 1UP
Meja Örtengren (STANFORD) def. Jasmine Koo (USC) 6&5
Kelly Xu (STANFORD) def. Elise Lee (USC) 1UP
Megha Ganne (STANFORD) def. Bailey Shoemaker (USC) 4&3
Order of finish: 3,1,5*

FOLLOW THE TROJANS
For more information on the USC women's golf team, a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Trojans can follow the team on Instagram and on X @USCWomensGolf.