Huang, Stanford pulling away at Pac-12 tourney

   With Franklin Huang, a sophomore from Poway, Calif., leading a remarkably balanced effort that featured five rounds of par or better, Stanford, No. 4 in the latest Golfstat rankings, extended its lead through three rounds of the Pac-12 Championship Saturday at The Country Club in Salt Lake City, Utah.

   Huang fired a 3-under 68 over the 7,209-yard, par-71 Country Club layout as the two-time defending champion Cardinal posted a 7-under 348 total in the six-player, count-five format to take a 12-shot lead at 29-under 1,036. No. 13 California matched par with a 355 which left the Golden Bears at 17-under 1,048. No. 2 Southern California is another 19 shots behind Cal at 1,067 following an 8-over 363.  Rounding out the top five are No. 10 Arizona State (364) and No. 28 Washington (360), which are tied for fourth at 10-over 1,075.

   Huang’s 68 left him alone in fifth place in the individual chase at 7-under 206. Teammate David Boote, a senior from England, carded a 1-under 70 and is tied for second in the individual standings at 9-under 204.

   Junior Maverick McNealy, the reigning Haskins and Nicklaus award winner, had Stanford’s second-best round of the day, a 2-under 69 and is tied for eighth individually at 4-under 209. Jeffrey Swegle, a freshman from West Des Moines, Iowa, matched par with a 71 and is tied for 12^th at 2-under 211 and Viraat Badhwar, a junior from Australia, had a 1-under 70 and is the fourth Cardinal in the top 15 individually as he is tied for 15^th at 1-under 212.

   Rounding out the Stanford contingent is Brandon Wu, a freshman from Danville, Calif. who had a 75 and is tied for 29^th at 4-over 217.

   Cal’s effort is being led by KK Limbhasut, a sophomore from Loma Linda, Calif. who’s nearly as dominant individually as Stanford is in the team chase. Limbhasut fired a third straight 5-under 66 to build a six-shot lead at 15-under 198.

   Joining Stanford’s Boote in the three-way tie for second at 9-under 204 are UCLA’s Jonathan Garrick, a senior from Atherton, Calif. who carded a 2-under 69, and Arizona State’s Jon Rahm, a senior from Spain who posted a 3-under 68.

Kan claims Junior Tour win at Indian Spring

   Chichester junior Caprian Kan carded an 86 to take top honors in the girls 16-to-18 division as the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour made a stop at Indian Spring Country Club in Marlton, N.J. Saturday.

   Kan had two birdies on the 5,401-yard, par-70 Indian Spring layout to edge runnerup Casey Oppenheimer of Conshohocken by two shots. Elise Glauer of Newark, Del. finished third with a 93 and Melissa Landis of Philadelphia took fourth with a 96.

   Elizabeth Beek of Blue Bell was the winner in the 13-to-15 division with an 85. Cristea Park of Blue Bell finished second with a 91, Sunshine Gu of Yardley and Paige Cerminaro of Farmingdale, N.J. finished tied for third with 91s and Savanna Haas of Pottstown and Grace Lu of Edison, N.J. shared fifth place, each carding a 99.

   Wills Montgomery of Exton had the day’s best round, matching par with a 70 to claim the top spot in the boys 16-to-18 division. Montgomery made four birdies and finished strong with a 1-under 34 on the inward nine at Indian Spring, which measures 6,328 yards for the boys.

   Evan McNally of Medford, N.J. and Timothy Lorenzo of Maple Glen shared second place with 75s, Patrick Sheehan of Doylestown was another shot back in fourth with a 76 and Jacob Macinanti of Lancaster and Colin Walsh of Warminster finished tied for fifth, each posting a 77.

   Alec Ryden of Moorestown, N.J. won in a match of cards with Andrew Wallace of Narberth after both carded 4-over 74s to win the 13-to-15 division. Ryden’s 2-over 37 on the back nine was the difference.

   Akhil Giri of Moorestown, N.J. fnished third with a 76, Nikita Romanov of Wilmington, Del. was fourth with a 77 and Ryan D’Ariano of West Chester rounded out the top five with a 78.

   Among the nine-holers, Joshua Ryan of Norristown was an impressive winner with a 40, eight shots better than runnerup Benjamin Saggers of West Chester, who posted a 48.

   Jack Romeo of Ambler finished third with a 50, Ajeet Bagga of Blue Bell and Justin Kang of Garnet Valley shared fourth place with 52s and Ryan Garvey of Media finished sixth with a 54.

Boote, Stanford surge to top of leaderboard at Pac-12 tourney

   With David Boote, a senior from England, leading the way, Stanford, No. 4 in the latest Golfstat rankings, surged in front after a 36-hole day as a very contentious Pac-12 Championship opened Friday at The Country Club in Salt Lake City, Utah.

   The Cardinal came on strong in the second round with a sizzling 19-under 336 team score to finish the day at 22-under 688, five shots ahead of No. 13 California. No. 2 Southern California, after struggling with a 1-over 356 in the opening round, bounced back with a 7-under 348 to sit in third place at 6-under 704. No. 10 Arizona State followed in fourth place at 1-over 711 and No. 24 Washington State rounds out the top five at 5-over 715. In Stanford, Cal, USC and Arizona St., the team leaders represent four of the nation’s top 13 teams.

   Boote had rounds of 68 and 66 to climb to second in the individual chase at 8-under 134 and pace the Cardinal, which is seeking its third straight Pac-12 title.

   He was backed up by Franklin Huang, a sophomore from Poway, Calif., who is tied for sixth at 4-under 138, Maverick McNealy, a junior from Portola Valley, Calif. and ranked No. 2 individually in Division I by Golfstat, and Jeffrey Swegle, a sophomore from West Des Moines, Iowa, both of whom are tied for 12^th at 2-under 140, and Viraat Badhwar, a junior from Australia, who is tied for 20^th at even-par 142.

   Swegle had a lot to do with Stanford’s lights-out second round, firing the best round of a long day over the 7,209-yard, par-71 layout at The Country Club, a 7-under 64.

   Cal didn’t have a bad day either with rounds of 5-under 350 and 12-under 343 for a 17-under 693 total in the depth-testing six-player, count-five format employed for the Pac-12 tourney. The Golden Bears were led by KK Limbhasut, a sophomore from Loma Linda, Calif. who grabbed the individual lead with a pair of 66s for a 10-under 132 total.

   Two players are tied for third in the individual standings, a shot behind Stanford’s Boote. They are UCLA’s Jonathan Garrick, who had rounds of 67 and 68, and Colorado’s Jeremy Paul, a junior from Germany, who also went 67-68. Arizona State’s Jon Rahm, a senior from Spain, is alone in fifth place at 6-under 136 after rounds of 70 and 66.