Stanford's Lee, Arizona State's Mehaffey come up big in Bruin Wave Invitational

   Stanford’s Andrea Lee, a junior from Hermosa Beach, Calif., and Arizona State’s Olivia Mehaffey, a junior from Northern Ireland, have run into each other on some of the biggest stages in amateur golf the last couple of years.

   And there they were again Tuesday, coming up big for their respective teams in the final round of the Bruin Wave Invitational at San Luis Obispo Country Club in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

   Lee, No. 3 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), went off for a 3-under-par 33 on the back nine of a 6,266-yard, par-72 San Luis Obispo layout that seems to have played awfully tough to lead the Cardinal, No. 5 in the latest Golfstat rankings, to their second straight team title by three shots over No. 42 Oregon.

   Mehaffey, No. 22 in the Women’s WAGR, captured the individual title, closing with a solid 1-over 73 for a 4-over 220 total that was one shot better than Oregon’s Petra Salko, a senior from Finland. Mehaffey helped the No. 17 Sun Devils finish third in the team standings, a shot behind runnerup Oregon.

   None of the websites made much mention of the weather, but the conditions must have been tough in San Luis Obispo. Maybe not as bad as the 2017 NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., but the scores were high.

   Lee and Mehaffey were just freshmen at Rich Harvest Farms and hooked up in a match in the semifinals. Mehaffey edged Lee, 2 and 1, a crucial point in the Sun Devils’ 3-2 upset win that propelled them to the national championship.

   A little less than a year earlier, before either had ever swung a club in a college tournament, Lee and Mahaffey were opponents in the 2016 Curtis Cup Match. There was probably a little more pressure on Lee since the matches were being played at Dun Loughaire Golf Club in suburban Dublin, but it was high-stakes golf and Mehaffey and Great Britain & Ireland came away with the victory over the Red, White & Blue.

   And both were once again chosen to represent their countries in last summer’s Curtis Cup Match. This time Lee and a powerhouse United States team took the Curtis Cup back with a resounding 17-3 win at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.

   They tried to play a double-round Monday in San Luis Obispo, but didn’t quite get it all in. Lee had opened with a solid 2-over 74, but then struggled to an 81 in the afternoon. But her 1-under 71 Tuesday matched the low round of the tournament – Mehaffey matched it with her strong second round – and left her among the group tied for 12^th at 10-over 226.

   Lee’s round enabled the Cardinal to finish up with an 8-over 296 for a 31-over 885 total. Stanford opened with a 299 Monday morning before adding a 300 in the afternoon. Oregon still had some golf to play Tuesday morning and completed a 299, which, combined with its opening-round 296, gave the Ducks a four-shot lead over Stanford and No. 4 UCLA, the tournament host, after two rounds.

   The Ducks, behind Petra Salko, a senior from Finland who was the runnerup to Mehaffey in the individual standings, fell back in the final round with a 303 that left them three shots behind Stanford at 34-over 595. That kind of performance just might move them up in the Golfstat rankings.

   Arizona State had the best team round of the tournament, a 5-over 293, in the second round to get into contention, shaving 15 shots off an opening round of 308. The Sun Devils finished up with a 10-over 298 to end up in third, a shot behind Oregon at 35-over 899.

   Two-time reigning Pac-12 champion UCLA carded a final-round 304 to finish four shots behind Arizona State in fourth at 903. No. 14 Northwestern – the Wildcats made it all the way to the Final Match before falling to Arizona State in those dreadful conditions in 2017 at Rich Harvest Farms – had grabbed the lead with a solid 7-over 295 in the opening round, but a final-round 304 left them alone in fifth at 41-over 905.

   It was another nine shots back to San Diego State, which outperformed its No. 55 ranking, in sixth at 50-over 914 after a final-round 309, its worst round of the tournament. No. 28 Washington made it five Pac-12 teams among the top seven as the Huskies carded a solid 298 in the final round to finish seventh in a strong 15-team field at 52-over 916.

   Stanford was led by Mika Liu, a sophomore from Beverly Hills, Calif. who added a final-round 76 to the pair of 74s she posted during a long day Monday to finish among a group of five players tied for third at 8-over 224, three shots behind Oregon’s Salko. Liu, too, was on that U.S. team along with Lee in the 2016 Curtis Cup Match at Dun Loughaire, a pretty heady experience for a kid who still had a year of high school left.

   Ziyi Wang, a junior from China, was among a group of four players tied for eighth at 9-over 225 as she contributed a final round of 75. Wang was the low Cardinal in Monday afternoon’s second round when she matched par with a 72.

   Aline Krauter, a freshman from Wesley Chapel, Fla., was a shot behind her teammate Lee in the group tied for 15^th at 227. Krauter’s final-round 79 was a throw-out, but she came up huge while some of her more decorated teammates struggled during Monday’s double round as her opening-round 73 and her second-round 75 were both crucial counters.

   Much like her talented classmate Lee, Albane Valenzuela, a junior from Switzerland and No. 5 in the Women’s WAGR, struggled in Monday’s double round with a pair of 79s. But Valenzuela, the runnerup in the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur at San Diego Country Club, carded a crucial 2-over 74 to the Stanford cause in Tuesday’s final round to finish among the group tied for 39^th at 232.

   Valenzuela was at Rich Harvest Farms two years ago when Stanford fell to Arizona State in the semifinals. Valenzuela, Lee, Liu and Wang were there at Karsten Creek Golf Club last spring when the Cardinal again fell in the semifinals, again to the eventual champion, Arizona, again a Pac-12 rival.

   With a team win over a loaded field in its spring opener at the Northrop Grumann Regional Challenge earlier this month and a team win Tuesday in San Luis Obispo, this Stanford team looks determined to change its fortunes when the NCAA Championship is contested at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. in May.

   Calista Reyes, a freshman from San Diego, competed as an individual for Stanford and finished among the group tied for 36^th at 231.

   Tough conditions always seem to play right into the hands of players from Great Britain and the Emerald Isle, as Mehaffey proved once again at San Luis Obispo. After opening with a 76, Mehaffey matched the low individual round of the tournament with her second-round 71 before her final-round 73 gave her a one-shot edge over Oregon’s Salko.

   Salko had a pair of 73s in Monday’s double round and trailed teammate Kathleen Scavo, a senior from Benicia, Calif., by two shots in the individual standings. A final-round 75 left her just a shot behind Mehaffey with a 5-over 221 total.

   One of the other four players tied for third with Stanford’s Liu was UCLA’s Mariel Galdiano, a junior from Pearl City, Hawaii and No. 14 in the Women’s WAGR. Like Lee, Galdiano represented the United States in 2016 at Dun Loughaire and again last summer at Quaker Ridge. Galdiano just kept battling at San Luis Obispo, opening with a 74 and adding a pair of 75s for an 8-over 224 total.

   Galdiano’s teammate Phoebe Yue, a freshman from Canada, was also in the group tied for third at 224 as she closed with a solid 1-over 73. The Bruins have a huge void in their lineup after Lilia Vu turned pro over the midseason break. Maybe Yue can help at least partially make up for Vu’s departure.

   Rounding out the group tied for third at 224 were a couple of San Diego State players, Fernanda Escauriza, a junior from Paraguay, and Gioia Carpinelli, a sophomore from Switzerland. Escauriza matched the low round of the tournament when she opened with a 1-under 71 and closed with a 76. Carpinelli matched par in the second round with a 72 before also closing with a 76.

   Oregon’s Scavo had to return Tuesday morning to complete her second round. She also matched the low round of the tournament with a 1-under 71, which, combined with her opening-round 73, gave her the lead after two rounds at even-par 144.

   She had outplayed some of the top amateur players in the world on a tough golf course in tough conditions. Scavo can be forgiven for a final-round 81 that dropped her back into the group tied for eighth along with Stanford’s Wang at 9-over 225.

   Rounding out the foursome that landed in the tie for eighth at 225 were Mehaffey’s Arizona State teammate, Alexandra Forsterling, a freshman from Germany, and Northwestern’s Brook Riley, a junior from Manteca, Calif.

   After opening with an 80, Forsterling ripped off an even-par 72 and a 2-over 73. Riley opened with a 74 and added a 75 before finishing up with a 76.