Heck, Stanford remain out in front in NCAA Championship at Grayhawk

    Stanford, No.16 in the latest Golfstat rankings, can probably relax a little in Monday’s final round of qualifying for match play in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club.

   It is not a luxury teams looking to earn one of the coveted eight spots in the match-play bracket normally have in the NCAA Championship. But the Pac-12 representative has opened up 20 shots between itself and the next closest competitor, Atlantic Coast Conference champion Duke, ranked No. 2.

   Stanford, behind individual leader Rachel Heck, a freshman from Memphis, Tenn. and suddenly all the way up to No. 6 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), carded the best team round of the tournament, an 11-under-par 277 over the 6,384-yard, par-72 Grayhawk layout Sunday, that gave the Cardinal an 18-under 546 total after three rounds.

   The Cardinal are the only team under par after three rounds. So, it’s not like Grayhawk isn’t playing tough for everybody else. It just seems like those smart kids from Stanford have it figured it out better.

   Only 15 shots separate Duke in second place from ACC runnerup Florida State in eighth place. And there are three more teams lined up a total of three shots behind the Seminoles with an eye on one of those eight spots in the match-play bracket.

   Duke carded a solid 5-over 293 that left the Blue Devils in second place with a 2-over 566 total. Big 12 champion Oklahoma State, ranked seventh, made a big move with a 6-under 282, to land in third place, two shots behind Duke with a 4-over 568 total.

   The Cowgirls’ Big 12 rival Texas was two shots behind them with a 6-over 870 total after the Longhorns posted a solid 5-over 293 in Sunday’s third round.

   No. 5 Mississippi, out of the Southeastern Conference, was five shots behind Texas in fifth place at 11-over 875 after  the Rebels matched par with a 288.

   Stanford’s Pac-12 rival Arizona State, perhaps inspired by the PGA Championship victory at age 50 by the greatest Sun Devil of all, Phil Mickelson, registered a 2-under 286 that left the No. 10 Sun Devils in sixth place, two shots behind Ole Miss at 13-over 877.

   The last NCAA Championship contested was two springs ago at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., where Duke edged ACC rival Wake Forest in the Final Match. The Demon Deacons remained very much in the hunt for a possible shot at the Dookies in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk as they struggled a little with a 7-over 295 Sunday that left them in seventh place, three shots behind Arizona State at 16-over 880.

   No. 9 Florida State has a hold on the eighth spot going into Monday’s final round as the Seminoles struggled to a 10-over 298 that left them with a 17-over 881 total, a shot behind Wake Forest.

   Another Pac-12 team playing in its home state, No. 10 Arizona, was just a shot behind Florida State in ninth place at 18-over 882 after the Wildcats posted a 4-over 292. Another Pac-12 entry, No. 13 Oregon, is another shot behind Arizona and just two shots behind Florida State in 10^th place after the Ducks carded a 5-over 293.

   Then it’s a couple of SEC powers, No. 3 LSU and the No. 1 team in the country, South Carolina, in 12^th and 13^th place, respectively, the Bayou Tigers a shot behind Oregon at 20-over 884 and the Gamecocks another three shots behind LSU at 23-over 887.

   No. 12 Baylor, out of the Big 12, was four shots behind South Carolina in 13^th place at 27-over 891 and SEC champion Auburn was a shot behind Baylor in 14^th place at 28-over 892 total.

   No. 21 UCLA struggled to a 300, but was the last team to survive the cut to 15 teams with a 31-over 896. The Bruins, the fifth Pac-12 team among the final 15 teams, are 14 shots away from eighth place entering Monday’s final round. It might be a road too far, but the Bruins are still playing.

   The coronavirus pandemic delayed the start of Heck’s college career, but she is certainly putting her considerable talent on display at Grayhawk. Heck’s 2-under 70 Sunday gave her a 10-under 206 total after three rounds. The team’s goals are probably Heck’s priority, but what the Heck, if the team seems safely on its way to the match-play bracket and you’ve got a comfortable lead in the individual chase, an NCAA individual title would be a nice little addition to the resume.

   I’m sure U.S. Curtis Cup captain Sarah Ingram is hanging out at Grayhawk, sizing up some of the prospects for the team that will take on Great Britain & Ireland at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales in August, a Curtis Cup Match rescheduled from 2020. Heck wasn’t one of the 12 players invited to participate in a Curtis Cup practice session in January at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, but her rapid rise in the Women’s WAGR might make her an automatic qualifier for Ingram’s team.

   Heck’s closest pursuer is teammate Angelina Ye, a sophomore from China and No. 22 in the Women’s WAGR. Ye, the winner of the 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis., sparked Stanford’s sizzling team effort with a 7-under 65 that left her five shots behind Heck in second place at 5-under 211.

   Backing up the top two for Stanford was Brooke Seay, a sophomore from San Diego, Calif. who contributed a 3-under 69 to the Cardinal’s blazing third round. That left Seay in a group of four players tied for sixth place at 1-under 215.

   Stanford’s final counter Sunday came from Aline Krauter, a junior from Germany and No. 47 in the Women’s WAGR as she carded a solid 1-over 73 that left her among the group tied for 23^rd place at 3-over 219. Krauter captured The Women’s Amateur Championship last summer at West Lancashire.

   Rounding out the Stanford lineup was Sadie Englemann, a freshman from Austin, Texas who struggled a little with a 4-over 76 that left her among the group tied for 43^rd place with a 5-over 221 total.

   Arizona State’s Ashley Menne, a freshman from Surprise, Ariz., matched Ye for the low round of the weekend with a sparkling 7-under 65 that left her in a tie for third place, two shots behind Ye at 3-under 213.

   Joining Menne in the tie for third place at 3-under were UCLA’s Emma Spitz, a sophomore from Austria and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR, and Duke’s Gina Kim, a junior from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 40 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Spitz carded a 1-under 71 while Kim, who was in the lineup for the Blue Devils in their 3-2 victory over Wake Forest in the Final Match at The Blessings two springs ago, matched par with a 72.

   Maybe outside of Heck, the next-best freshman in the country might very well be Duke’s Phoebe Brinker, the Wilmington, Del. native and Archmere Academy product. Brinker matched par with a 72 that left her in the group along with Stanford’s Seay tied for sixth place at 1-under 215.

   Rounding out the quartet at 1-under were Oklahoma State’s Maja Stark, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, and Ole Miss’ Julia Johnson, a fifth-year senior from St. Gabriel, La. and No. 49 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Stark moved up the leaderboard with a 4-under 68 whi8le Johnson carded a second straight 1-under 71.