Jill McGill, of Denver, Colo., made a 45-foot birdie putt on the third hole and led the rest of the way in defeating Sarah LeBrun Ingram, of Nashville, Tenn., 1 up for the U.S. Women's Amateur title at San Diego Country Club.

McGill, 21, a senior at the University of Southern California, increased her margin to 4 up through 17 holes before Ingram rallied on the second 18 to cut the margin to 1 up on the 34th hole of the 36-hole final match.

"I think having no expectations coming into this week helped me," said McGill, who along with Ingram failed to qualify for match play a year ago. "I'm really excited because it shows a lot of progress in my game."

Ingram was the more experienced of the two, having played on the 1992 U.S. Curtis Cup and World Amateur Teams. She also won the 1991 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur title and has played in nine Amateurs as compared to McGill's three.

"If I could have just brought it to 1 down a little earlier," said Ingram, who just missed a chip for birdie that would have squared the match on the final hole. "If I hadn't three putted that 13th hole. That probably was the killer right there."

Heidi Voorhees, of Valley Village, Calif., and McGill's college teammate, earned medalist honors with an even-par 146 for two days of stroke play qualifying. Voorhees lost in the third round of match play to Debbi Koyama, of Westlake Village, Calif.

A record 442 women entered the championship, including former winners Anne Sander, of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Carol Semple Thompson, of Sewickley, Pa. Both advanced to match play. Also among the 64 players advancing to the match play field with 154 was Moira Dunn, of Utica, N.Y., who had a hole-in-one on the second day of qualifying.