In day three of the NCAA DI Women’s Golf Championship, the defending national champions, Stanford, found their way up to first place at 23-under after ending day one in 11th. Following close behind them in second place is Northwestern and Oregon in third.
After having a rough first day, Stanford came out on day two hungry to get that first place spot back and to prove to everyone that they have the capability of being back-to-back champions. On the first day, Stanford shot a total of 370. On the second day, Stanford redeemed themselves by shooting a 351.
Stanford’s Paula Martín Sampedro led the Cardinals on day three. The sophomore from Madrid, Spain, has been dominating each round so far, shooting 73-68-67 to go 8-under. With two front nine and back nine birdies on day two and three birdies today, Martín sits in second in the individual leaderboard.
Close behind her is Stanford’s Kelly Xu. She teed off her tournament with an even par 72 in round one and came back in round two with a 69 (-3). Xu continued her momentum for day three with a 68 (-4). Xu ranks thirds on the leaderboard.
Another strong performer for the Cardinal’s is Meja Ortengren, 2022 ACC Freshman of the Year. She started slowly with a 77 in round one but bounced back in round two with a 70 (-2) and a tournament low 66 (-6) with five back nine birdies in round three.
While Stanford is dominating the leaderboard, Northwestern has made some moves, jumping six spots to second place. After a solid round one of 291 (+3), the Wildcats are only three strokes behind. Sophomore Ashley Yuh, junior Dianna Lee and senior Lauryn Nguyen each carded an even-par-72 to contribute to the day’s efforts.
Northwestern maintained pace in round two, as Lee shot 71 (-1). Yuh and Elise Lee both carded solid rounds, each finishing at one-under to keep Northwestern in contention.
In the third round, Nguyen started her day with an eagle on the first hole, a par 4, en route to a 67 (-5). Northwestern’s Elise Lee eagled hole nine, ultimately shooting even par.
The Oregon Ducks’s strong start saw them tied in third with Arizona State. Sophomores Ting-Hsuan Huang and Suvichaya Vinijchaitham led the team with scores of 71 (-1). Sophomore standout Kiara Romero shot even par on the first day.
In the second round, the Ducks’ combined score put them at 289 (+1). Vinijchaitham, Huang and Anika Varma all shot even par to keep the team in third place.
During the third round, freshman Vinijcaitham led the team with a score of 70 (-2), ending the day with four birdies. Romero and Varma shot even par 72.
Stanford, Northwestern and Oregon all made the cut to the fourth round with the top 15 teams. They will tee off at 12:40 p.m. (PST). The top eight teams from Monday’s round will advance to match play on Tuesday, May 20th, and the top individual will be crowned champion at the conclusion of Monday’s round.
Team Leaderboard:
1. Stanford (-23)
2. Northwestern (-8)
3. Oregon (-2)
4. Southern California (E)
T5. Florida State (+3)
T5. Arkansas (+3)
7. Texas (+5)
8. South Carolina (+8)
9. Arizona State (+11)
T10. Virginia (+12)
T10. Tennessee (+12)
12. Oklahoma State (+14)
13. LSU (+16)
T14. UCLA (+18)
T14. Mississippi State (+18)
Top 5 Individuals:
1. Maria José Marin – Arkansas (-9)
2. Paula Martín Sampedro – Stanford (-8)
3. Kelly Xu – Stanford (-7)
T4. Elsa Svensson – LSU (-6)
T4. Catherine Park – Southern California (-6)
