Stanford Returns to the Top of the Leaderboard After Round 2

There was some movement throughout the leaderboard today as the top 30 teams and 6 individuals in the country competed in their second day of the 2026 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Golf Championship.

In the morning wave, Stanford threw up another 6-under round to now lead over Southern California by three. The USC Trojans still had a good day, shooting 2-under as a team. Other teams that took advantage of the relative morning calm were Florida, who shot 3-under to move into T11; Duke, who shot 2-under to go into T6; Auburn, who shot 2-under to move into T20; and Wake Forest, who shot 1-under to go into the third round at T18 where they still have a chance of breaking the top 15 teams ahead of the cut. Other than Oklahoma State’s 2-under today in the afternoon, these were the only teams to go under par today.

Whereas we had seven teams in the red at the start of the day, only three remain. Iowa State gave back its four strokes from yesterday and are T4 at even par. They’re tied with Arkansas, who similarly gave back two strokes, though defending champion Maria José Marin did shoot 4-under today. SMU has held steady, shooting one-over today to keep them in T6. Eastern Michigan and Missouri, who were under par yesterday, shot 7- and 8-over, respectively, but still remain in the top 15.

With the top teams going off first tomorrow, it will be up to the second wave to battle the afternoon wind and find the cracks to break into the top 15. One stroke separates plenty of teams, so it’s possible to see some afternoon teams in the final round of stroke play on Monday.

Another area that’s up for grabs – the individual title. There are currently three players tied for first at 6-under, with three players breathing down their necks just one stroke behind.

Texas’ Farah O’Keefe, Stanford’s Meja Örtengren and Ole Miss’ Kajsalotta Svarvar all went under par this morning to improve their standings. Stanford’s Megha Ganne, who was in T1 yesterday, is one of the players one stroke back. We also have Beth Coulter of Arizona State who bogeyed Hole 18 at the end of the afternoon wave to end her hopes of a four-way tie in first. Our other player one stroke back is individual Kirstin Angosta of TCU, who had 5 birdies today despite the afternoon tee time.

The most impressive round today, however, belongs to Florida’s Siuue Wu. She shot a bogey-free 64 (-8) this morning and launched herself into T7 after shooting 4-over her first day.

Fairway to Green’s Kelly Okun had a chance to speak with Wu on her way to the driving range after her round.