Krystle Caithness makes top 50 in New Mexico

Danielle McVeigh joint 15th

behind Spanish winner of

US college championship

Ireland's Danielle McVeigh (Texas A&M) finished joint 15th and Scotland's Krystle Caithness (Georgia) joint 46th in a quality field of 126 for the weather-disrupted NCAA Division 1 women's college championship, won by Spain's Azahara Munoz at the University of New Mexico course at Albuquerque.

Danielle, pictured above, had rounds of 73, 74, 75 and 73 for a seven-over-par total of 295 at the par-72, 6424yd course which was swept by high winds, rain and even hail storms for most of the four days.

Winner of the women's title at last year's world student golf championship in Thailand, McVeigh, who comes from Kilkeel, Northern Ireland, had birdies at the third, sixth, 10th and 17th in her final round. Double bogeys at two short holes in her third round cost her a top-10 finish.

A member at Royal County Down Golf Club, she is fourth reserve for the GB&I team for the Curtis Cup match against the United States, starting over the Old Course, St Andrews next Friday.

Krystle, who comes from Cellardyke and for whom the Old Course as a St Regulus club member is her home course, is a member of the GB&I team and flies home this weekend to meet up with her team-mates at St Andrews.

Caithness, beginning at the 10th hole in her final round, birdied the 10th and 11th but dropped shots at the 15th, 16th, 18th and first before she collected her third birdie, at the fourth. She then bogeyed the fifth and ninth.

Over the four rounds, she had 10 birdies and two double bogeys.

The third British player in the field, English girls champion Ellie Givens (Denver), finished joint 85th on 311 with scores of 77, 78, 79 and 77.

Munoz tied with US Curtis Cup team member Tiffany Joh (UCLA) with the lowest 72-hole totals of 287, only one under par and an indication of how much the bad weather affected the standard of play.

Azahara, winner of the British girls open title at Lanark in 2004, scored 69, 72, 73 and 73. Tiffany's rounds were 74, 69, 72 and 72. Munoz holed a 25ft birdie putt at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.

In third place was one of Krystle Caithness's Georgia University team-mates, Garrett Phillips, who is not in the US Curtis Cup team.

Garrett, on her last green, the ninth, faced a 15ft eagle putt which, had she holed it, would have put her into the play-off with Munoz and Joh. Tragically, she FOUR-putted for a closing 73 and third place on 289.

Belen Mozo (Southern California), the Spanish girl who won both the British girls' and women's open championships at Northern Irleand venues in 2006, finished fourth on 290.

Amanda Blumenherst (Duke), who finishes the US women's college golf season as its No 1 and is expected to be their leading player in the Curtis Cup match, finished on a high with a four-under-par 68, the lowest round by anyone in the tournament.

She had an eagle and four birdies as well as a double bogey 7 at the 18th in great round.

Blumenherst tied for fourth place on 291 with Anna Nordqvist (Arizona State), the Swedish girl who was British girls' open champion in 2005 and beaten finalist in the British women's open amateur championhip last year, and Denver's Stephanie Sherlock.

Of the other American Curtis Cup players in the field, Stacy Lewis, Amanda Blumenherst's great rival for the No 1 ranking, came joint eighth on 292 with a closing 72; Jennie Lee (Duke), who began her last round birdie-birdie-eagle (an ace!), finished joint 15th on 295, and Irish-born Alison Walshe (Arizona) from Galway finished joint 28th on 299.

Southern California (1168) won the team title from UCLA (1174) with Duke (1180), who had been bidding for a fourth successive championship, having to settle for third place.

LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS

Par 288 (4 x 72) 6424yd

287 Azahara Munoz (Arizona State) 69 72 73 73, Tiffany Joh (UCLA) 74 69 72 72 (Munoz won play-off at first hole).

289 Garrett Phillips (Georgia) 71 74 71 73.

290 Belen Mozo (Southern California) 69 71 75 75.

291 Amanda Blumenherst (Duke) 75 71 77 68, Anna Nordqvist (Arizona State) 75 73 72 71, Stephanie Sherlock (Denver) 71 73 77 70.

292 Ashley Freeman (Texas A&M) 71 72 75 75, Stacy Lewis (Arkansas) 73 72 75 72, Sydnee Michaels (UCLA) 69 74 75 74, Dewi-Claire Schreefel (Southern California) 73 78 72 69.

Other totals:

295 Jennie Lee (Duke) 74 77 73 69, Danielle McVeigh (Texas A&M) 73 74 75 73 (jt 15th).

299 Alison Walshe (Arizona) 76 74 74 75 (jt 28th).

302 Krystle Caithness (Georgia) 76 74 77 75 (jt 46th).

311 Ellie Givens (Denver) 77 78 79 77 (jt 86th).

LEADING TEAM TOTALS

1168 Southern California.

1174 UCLA.

1180 Duke.

1188 Purdue.

1189 Arizona State.

1191 Denver, Texas A&M.

1194 Arkansas.

1196 Florida.

1197 Georgia, Wake Forest (jt 10th).

24 teams took part.