Zhang claims individual title, leads Stanford to top seed in match play in NCAA Championship

    With all its preliminary goals accomplished, Stanford, No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings, takes aim at its ultimate goal when match play in the NCAA Championship gets under way Tuesday at Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor Course in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   The good news for the Cardinal is that, despite being briefly overtaken a couple of times during the final round of qualifying for stroke play Monday, they earned the top seed, closing with their worst round of the week, a 9-over-par 297, to finish with a 9-over 1,161 total.

   The bad news is that no No. 1 seed has won the national title since the match-play layer was added in 2015.

   There was more good news for Stanford, though, as Rose Zhang, a freshman from Irvine, Calif. and the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), captured the NCAA individual crown, closing with her worst round of the week, a 3-over 75 over the 6,340-yard, par-72 Raptor Course layout for a 6-under 282 total that was three shots clear of the field.

   Zhang was the second straight Stanford freshman to capture the NCAA’s individual crown as Rachel Heck, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, claimed the title a year ago and, like Zhang has done this May, led the Cardinal to the top seed in match play.

   An NCAA individual title is an incredible accomplishment and finishing at the top of the heap after 72 holes of stroke play against the best teams in college golf is nice, but you get the feeling that nobody knows better than this group of Stanford players that the hard work of accomplishing their ultimate goal is just beginning.

   It will start Tuesday with a matchup against a Georgia team that has really seemed to find itself in this postseason. The Bulldogs, out of the tough Southeastern Conference, are the lowest-ranked team in the match-play bracket at No. 27, but the rankings are meaningless at this point.

   Georgia closed with a 2-over 290 in Monday’s final round for a 30-over 1,182 total that enabled the Bulldogs to beat out a couple of Stanford’s Pac-12 rivals, No. 7 Arizona State, playing just a few miles from its campus, and No. 11 Southern California, to grab the eight seed. 

   The Sun Devils finished two shots behind Georgia in ninth place with a 32-over 1,184 total after a  final round of 2-over 290. The Trojans finished another shot behind Arizona State in 10th place with a 33-over 1,185 total after a final round of 5-over 293.

   Make no mistake about it, you finish among the top eight teams that qualify for match play in the NCAA Championship, you’re a really solid golf team that has displayed all kinds of grit, resilience and determination to get here, exactly the kind of characteristics you need to survive in match play.

   By the time I post this, the quarterfinal matches will be about to tee off, but probably the most intriguing first-round match will pit two West Coast teams that emerged this spring as real contenders for a national championship in No. 2 Oregon, which beat out Stanford for the Pac-12 crown and then won the team title in the Albuquerque Regional, and No. 5 San Jose State, the Mountain West Conference champion and winner of the team title in the Ann Arbor Regional.

   Oregon closed with a 3-over 291 to finish in second place, three shots behind Stanford with a 12-over 1,164 total. San Jose State, behind individual runnerup Natasha Andrea Oon, a senior from Malaysia and No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR, put together a clutch 5-over 293 in Monday’s final round to nail down the seven seed with a 29-over 1,181 total.

   It’s a tough draw for Oregon, but if you get to match play in the NCAA Championship, you’re going to get a challenge. It’s that simple.

   No. 19 Texas A&M, out of the SEC, made a run at the top seed before finishing up with the best team round of the day, a 1-over 289, that left the Aggies alone in third place, two shots behind Oregon with a 14-over 1,166 total.

   Texas A&M gets No. 10 Florida State, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s lone representative in match play, which, like Georgia, seems to be playing its best golf in the postseason. Coming off a team win on its home course in the Tallahassee Regional, the Seminoles closed with a solid 4-over 292 to finish in sixth place with a 27-over 1,179 total.

   The final quarterfinal match pits No. 15 UCLA, the third Pac-12 team among the top four in the team standings, and No. 17 Auburn, another SEC entry.

   UCLA closed with a solid 3-over 291 to finish three shots behind Texas A&M in fourth place with a 17-over 1,169 total. Auburn also finished strong, posting a 2-over 290 to end up six shots behind the Bruins in fifth place with a 23-over 1,175 total.

   Zhang was clearly not at her best in capturing the individual title, but her final-round 75 was more than good enough to give her a three-shot victory, adding another major accomplishment to her burgeoning amateur resume.

   Oon closed with her second straight 2-under 70 to finish alone in second place with a 3-under 285 total.

   LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, a junior from Sweden and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, and Texas A&M’s Jennie Park, a junior from Carrollton, Texas, were the only other players to finish under par for four rounds over the Raptor Course as they shared third place, each landing on 1-under 287.

   Lindblad capped a wonderful spring with a final round of 2-under 70, but she was unable to drag the SEC champion Bayou Tigers across the finish line as they finished nine shots shy of a match-play berth in 11^th place with a 35-over 1,187 total.

   Park gave herself birdie looks at birdie all day, but couldn’t get a lot of them to fall. Still, she closed with a 2-under 70 and led the way for Texas A&M.

   Oregon’s senior leader, Tze-Han (Heather) Lin of Taiwan and No. 97 in the Women’s WAGR, closed with a 2-over 74 to finish alone in fifth place, a shot behind Lindblad and Park, with an even-par 288 total.

   Georgia’s top two finishers, Jenny Bae, a senior from Suwanee, Ga. and No. 74 in the Women’s WAGR, and Candice Mahe, a freshman from France, ended up in a tie for sixth place in the individual standings, each landing on 1-over 289.

   Bae closed with a 3-over 75 while Mahe had the best individual round of the day, finishing up with a 4-under 68.

   Mississippi’s Chiara Tamburlini, a junior from Switzerland and No. 84 in the Women’s WAGR, was a year removed from helping the Rebels claim the national championship. She closed with a solid 2-under 70 to finish alone in eighth place with a 2-over 290 total while competing as an individual.

   It was the end of the line for a very successful season for No. 8 Virginia and sophomore Jennifer Cleary, a product of Tower School in Wilmington, Del.

   The Cavaliers, out of the ACC, closed with a 12-over 300 that left them last of the 15 teams that survived the 54-hole cut. Still, it was a very strong season for Virginia, which was the runnerup to San Jose State in the Ann Arbor Regional and gutted it out to make it to the final day of stroke play at Grayhawk.

   Cleary, the reigning Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion, never really solved the Raptor Course as she closed with a 5-over 77 to finish in a tie for 70^th place with a 308 total.