U Of W Women Bring NCAA Title To Seattle & Nice Ratings Too

As the men's Division I championship prepares to get underway at Eugene Country Club, the triumphant University of Washington women and their 33-year coach returned to campus with the school's first NCAA championship of any kind since 2009.

Beth Ann Nichols has the lowdown for Golfweek and UW's Mason Kelley with the photos of Mary Ann Mulflur and team:

Mulflur, now in her 33rd season as head coach, had 296 text messages on her phone when she finished up media obligations. She turned off her phone for a while, however, to enjoy the moment.

One of the more encouraging signs for all involved has to be the chatter about how refreshing/exciting/emotional the matches were. The combination of player passion, push carts, humble reactions and a great story drew a very nice rating for mid-week in spring with so much to watch.

From SportsTVRatings, the final 3:39 telecast averaged 249,000 viewers, including 59,000 from the only demo that matters.That blows away any final round rating for a fall PGA Tour event!

BTW, the US Amateur Four-Ball airing earlier in the day on Fox averaged 59,00/26,000 over an excruciatingly slow 2:45 on Fox Sports 1. It took a strong soul or a huge Tillinghast fan to watch the tepid match in front of a hundred or so people. Golf World's Ryan Herrington profiled winners Andrew Buchanan and Ben Baxter, both of SMU.