Courtesy: Stanford Athletics
SALT LAKE CITY – No. 4 Stanford trailed in the early stages of the Pac-12 Conference Championships which began Friday at The Country Club, but the men's golf team stayed cool and mounted a brilliant comeback to take a five-shot lead over second-place Cal through 36 holes.
Stanford shaved 16 shots off an opening-round 352 and went 19-under in the second circuit on the par-71 track. At 22-under, Stanford's 688 in the 6-count-5 tournament scoring format set the pace as the Cardinal seeks a third consecutive conference crown.
“This was a great start for the team in some very tough conditions,” said Conrad Ray, Stanford's Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. “I was proud of the guys and how they hung in there and managed their games and stayed away from the big numbers.
“We have a lot of golf left against a strong field on a tough course, but we're happy with how we got out of the blocks. All the guys made some great contributions today.”
Morning temperatures that hovered in the low 40s and gusty winds greeted the Pac-12 golfers which made for some challenging play in the first round as only two teams were able to shoot par or better. Cal's KK Limbhaust shot 5-under to pace the Golden Bears to a first-round lead with a team score of 5-under, two shots better than Stanford.
As winds calmed and the temperatures warmed in the afternoon, Jeffrey Swegle posted the low round of the day with a 7-under 64 to lead the Cardinal surge in the second round. As a team, the Cardinal posted a second-round score of 19-under to leapfrog the Golden Bears and move into the lead after two rounds. The Bears are second at 17-under, followed by USC in third at 6-under.
Franklin Huang tied Limbhasut for the first-round lead with a 5-under to keep the Cardinal in the team race.
“That was a big first round for Franklin. He's been really trending the right way and has had a couple of good weeks the last few tournaments,” said Ray. “Franklin was our rock this morning, for sure. That first hour and a half it was about as tough as you are going to get.
“This afternoon we got some momentum going. Jeffrey Swegle really got hot at the end and birdied his last three, and then David Boote dropped in eagle on the last hole. It's fun to finish strong, but knowing there's a lot of golf left and the forecast isn't great, we have to show up tomorrow and take care of business.”
Despite inconsistent weather conditions, Limbhasut was steady throughout the day as he increased his lead in the individual race to 10-under 132 (66-66). He's two strokes ahead of David Boote, who posted an 8-under 134 (68-64).
Maverick McNealy went 69-71 and Swegle went 76-64 to share 12th at 2-under.
Viraat Badhwar (74-68) and Brandon Wu (75-67) are tied for 20th at even-par.
Both Boote and Huang led the medalist race at different times during the first 36 holes.
The third round will begin Saturday morning at 9 a.m. PT. Live results will be available at GoStanford.com.