Zhang leads the way as Stanford charges into top spot in NCAA Championship at Grayhawk

   With one round to go until the NCAA Championship field is winnowed down to the eight teams that will make up the match-play bracket at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., Stanford is right where it has been for the last two seasons, at the top of the heap.

   Grayhawk toughened up a little for Sunday’s third round and, as usual, Stanford, No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings, proved it was tough enough.

   Led by the unquestioned top women’s amateur player on the planet, Rose Zhang, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. and No. 1 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Stanford, out of the Pac-12 Conference, carded a 2-over-par 290 over the 6,368-yard, par-72 Grayhawk layout to overtake Wake Forest and take a seven-shot lead into Monday’s final round of qualifying for match play.

   Stanford, seeking a second straight national crown, was atop the leaderboard with a 13-under 851 total.

   The top eight finishers following Monday’s final round of qualifying for match play will compete in quarterfinal matches Tuesday morning.

   In addition, an individual NCAA champion will be crowned and The Golf Channel’s cameras will be rolling for the biggest day in Division I women’s college golf.

   A year ago that individual champion was Rose Zhang, part of a series of accomplishments for one of the finest amateur players of her era.

   In Sunday’s third round Rose Zhang carded a solid 1-under 71 that left her among a trio of players tied for third place with a 6-under 210 total.

   Atlantic Coast Conference power Wake Forest, ranked No. 2 by Golfstat, had been at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the first two rounds, but the Demon Deacons struggled to an 11-over 299 that left them in a tie for second place with Big 12 power Texas at 6-under 858, seven shots behind Stanford.

   The No. 11 Longhorns matched Stanford’s solid 2-over 290 to join Wake Forest at 6-under.

   No. 9 Southern California, the Pac-12 champion, was another four shots behind Texas A&M in fourth place after the Trojans also posted a 2-over 290 that left them with a 2-under 862 total.

   Southern Cal was led by Catherine Park, a freshman from Irvine, Calif. who registered a solid 1-under 71 to open a two-shot lead over San Jose State’s Lucia Lopez Ortega, a sophomore from Spain, going into Monday’s final round in the battle for the NCAA’s individual crown.

   Park’s solid third round Sunday left her with a 10-under 206 total. Lopez Ortega matched Park’s 1-under 71 and was alone in second place with an 8-under 208 total.

   Florida State, Wake Forest’s ACC rival, was a shot behind Southern Cal in fifth place with a 1-under 862 total as the Seminoles matched the low team round of the day with a 1-over 289.

   Southeastern Conference power South Carolina, ranked No. 4, struggled to a 302 that left the Gamecocks alone in sixth place with an even-par 864 total.

   Much of the focus in Monday’s final round will be on the teams vying for those last couple of spots in the match-play bracket.

   You can see just by the way the teams were lined up following Sunday’s third round how tight things are going to be as four teams were separated by just a shot for the seventh and eighth spots in the team standings.

   SEC champion Texas A&M, ranked sixth, posted a 10-over 298 and Arizona, a Pac-12 power ranked 23^rd, matched the low team round of the day with a 1-over 289 as the Aggies and the Wildcats shared seventh place, each landing on 5-over 869, five shots behind South Carolina.

   Another SEC power, No. 28 Georgia, and West Coast Conference champion Pepperdine, ranked 16^th, were another shot behind Texas A&M and Arizona in a tie for ninth place, each sitting at 6-over 870. The Bulldogs carded a 6-over 294 in Sunday’s third round while the Waves registered an 8-over 296.

   Backing up Rose Zhang for Stanford was Megha Ganne, a freshman from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 86 in the Women’s WAGR as she recorded a 1-over 73 that left her in the group tied for 12^th place with a 3-under 213 total.

   Sadie Englemann, a junior from Austin, Texas and No. 90 in the Women’s WAGR, was a shot behind Ganne in the group tied for 16^th place with a 2-under 214 total after recording a 2-over 74.

   Kelly Xu, a freshman from Claremont, Calif., matched par with a 72 that left her in the group tied for 30^th place with a 1-over 217 total.

   Rounding out the Stanford lineup was Brooke Seay, a senior from San Diego and No. 57 in the Women’s WAGR who was in the lineup for the second day in a row after Rachel Heck, a junior from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 20 in the Women’s WAGR filled that fifth spot in Friday’s opening round. Seay carded a 4-over 76 in Sunday’s third round.

   Seay and Heck are competing for Stanford for the first time since last fall as both have been recovering from injuries. The Cardinal seem to be a pretty safe bet to make it into the match-play bracket. It will be interesting to see who fills out the Stanford lineup for match play, although both Seay and Heck possess a wealth of match-play experience.

   Joining Rose Zhang in the trio tied for third place in the individual standings at 6-under 210 were LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, a senior from Sweden and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, and Oklahoma State’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, a junior from Australia and No. 58 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Lindblad moved into contention for the individual title with a 4-under 68 that got her to 6-under.

   Hinson-Tolchard, who had grabbed the individual lead with an opening round of 6-under 66, carded a 2-over 74.

   SMU’s Michelle Zhang, a freshman from China, Florida State’s Charlotte Heath, a junior from England and No. 18 in the Women’s WAGR, and Arizona’s Nena Wongthanavimok, a freshman from Thailand, were in a three-way tie for sixth place, each landing on 5-under 211.

   Michelle Zhang surged up the leaderboard with the best round of the day, a 5-under 67. Heath and Wongthanavimok each recorded a 3-under 69.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the individual standings was the trio of Oregon State’s Chayse Gomez, a junior from Yorba Linda, Calif., Texas’ Cindy Hsu, a freshman from Taiwan, and Lopez Ortega’s San Jose State teammate, Kajsa Arwefjall, a senior from Sweden and No. 45 in the Women’s WAGR, all of whom were at 4-under 212.

   Gomez registered a solid 2-under 70, Hsu got it in in red figures with a 1-under 71 and Arwefjall posted a 1-over 73.

   ACC power Duke, ranked 22^nd, struggled to a 301 and failed to survive the cut to the top 15 teams that came after Sunday’s third round as the Blue Devils ended up in a tie for 18^th place with the Big Ten’s Michigan State with a 21-over 885 total.

   Duke junior Phoebe Brinker, who starred scholastically at Archmere Academy and is No. 51 in the Women’s WAGR, finished up with a 4-over 76 that left her in the group tied for 89^th place with a 225 total.