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thing different and it translated into what I'm doing now." What Diaz-Yi also does is rise to the occasion instead of, during crunch time, hit a shot off the tee out of bounds or drop an approach shot into a bunker. "What she does is she's a competitor," Lewellen said. "Under the gun, she wants to know how she's doing in the field. 'Am I in the lead? Am I one off the lead?' She can step up and perform. When she knows she has to make that eight-foot putt she makes it. "Some golfers don't want to know that. That's a trait of a champion. Instead of faltering, she steps up and makes it happen." Diaz-Yi's ability to remain positive regardless of the situation is another key to her success. "For me, personally, I try to keep a very positive mindset," she said. "Anything can go every which way in golf. For me, it's important to have a good support system because whether it's your coaches, friends and teammates they have a positive impact on your life. "It [also] has an impact on the mental aspect of the sport. Golf is so mental and it's tough to gauge yourself. I try to give it my best shot. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. I try not to think about external things that could add to the pressure." During her junior year at Westlake High, she harbored minimal thoughts about playing golf for Virginia. "I didn't know UVa existed six months before I committed," the native Californian said. "Coach would contact me a lot, so I decided to give it a shot. When I visited, I also visited Duke at the same time. But I fell in love with the campus. Then I met coach and everything really clicked. "I was lucky she was able to offer me in my ju- nior year. I don't think I could have picked a better school." In retrospect, Lewellen discovered Diaz-Yi al- most by accident. "I was at a tournament in South Carolina dur- ing her junior year," Lewellen said. "I didn't have anybody I was looking at in particular. Then, I heard someone hit a ball off the tee. It was a solid shot that was hit so hard. I spun around and it was Lauren. The strike of the ball made me turn around and take notice. "From then on she was my No. 1 recruit. I did everything I could to recruit her." Diaz-Yi credits Lewellen for much of her suc- cess. "She doesn't pressure us at all in any way, and obviously she's really knowledgeable," Diaz-Yi noted of her coach. In turn, Lewellen said Diaz-Yi has few holes (no pun intended) in her game. "Her strengths are her ball-striking and her short game," Lewellen said. "She's a great competitor because under the gun she can perform. If she isn't playing as well as she would like, she can keep her mind in it and become adaptable with the shot she's hitting. "She doesn't have a weakness that's going to hold her back." ◆ "When she knows she has to make that eight-foot putt she makes it. Some golfers don't want to know that. That's a trait of a champion. Instead of faltering, she steps up and makes it happen." HEAD COACH KIM LEWELLEN ON DIAZ-YI