GOLF : NCAA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS : Sugg, UCLA Recover From Two-Shot Penalty for Title

UCLA’s LaRee Sugg made a mistake but made San Jose State pay for it.

Sugg was assessed a two-stroke penalty for teeing off in front of the 13th-hole tee markers, but redeemed herself with playoff birdie to give UCLA the team title Saturday at the NCAA women’s golf championship at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.

San Jose State’s Pat Hurst called the penalty, which also required replaying the 170-yard, par-three hole.

“I was really mad after that, but not at Pat,” she said. “It was a silly thing to do. But after the penalty I birdied two of the last five holes. That really fired me up.”

UCLA made up six shots on the final two holes to tie San Jose State at 1,197.

“I told my teammates at the 17th tee, ‘Hey, we’re down, let’s birdie in,’ ” said the senior from Petersburg, Va.

Hurst said she was told that Sugg had been warned during the third round. Then, on the 13th tee, she watched as Sugg planted her tee ahead of the markers again. Beans Kelly, coach of the Georgia team that played with San Jose State and UCLA, also saw it and urged Hurst to notify an official.

“It happened right in front of us,” Hurst said.

Hurst said the problems on the closing holes belonged to all of the Spartans.

“It was no one’s fault,” Hurst said. “We’re all a team. . . . It’s the end score that counts.”

UCLA Coach Jackie Tobian-Steinmann said of her team, “In those last two holes I did not believe what I was seeing. They came through. They just did it.”

Arizona’s Annika Sorenstam, a freshman from Sweden, was medalist with a final-round 74 to finish at two-over 290, one stroke better than UCLA’s Christy Erb.

Arizona was third with 1,212 strokes, followed by South Florida with 1,217 and Georgia with 1,222.