Zhang, Stanford in control heading into final round of stroke play in NCAA Championship at Grayhawk

    The No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and her team, No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings, continued to dominate the individual and team races, respectively, through three rounds of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   Stanford’s Rose Zhang, a freshman from Irvine, Calif. and the aforementioned top amateur player in the world, widened her lead to seven shots in the race for the NCAA’s individual title as she carded a solid 3-under 69 Sunday over the 6,340-yard, par-72 Raptor Course at Grayhawk. It would seem unlikely a player of Zhang’s ability would squander such a big lead.

   Stanford, led by Zhang, widened its lead to nine shots in qualifying for match play in the team competition with a solid 5-under 283, the best team round of the day, that gave the Cardinal a 54-hole total of even-par 864.

   The focus when The Golf Channel’s cameras start rolling Monday afternoon will be on the battle for the top eight spots in the match-play bracket. After all, Stanford, before Zhang even arrived, dominated the qualifying for match play a year ago at Grayhawk only to fall to Pac-12 rival Arizona, an eventual finalist, in the quarterfinals the following day.

   You wouldn’t think that would happen again with the rest of the Stanford lineup besides Zhang a year wiser and with Zhang’s presence making the Cardinal even better, but hey, it’s match play. Seven other teams will be battling it out Monday just itching to get a shot at anybody in match play.

   Oregon, the No. 2 team in the country and the Pac-12 champion, matched par in Sunday’s third round with a 288 that left the Ducks in second place, nine shots behind Stanford with a 9-over 873 total.

   No. 19 Texas A&M, a Southeastern Conference power, also matched par Sunday with a 288 that left the Aggies four shots behind Oregon in third place with a 13-over 877 total.

   UCLA made it three Pac-12 teams in the top four as the Bruins recorded a solid 4-over 292 and were a shot behind Texas A&M in fourth place with a 14-over 878 total.

   Things really start getting interesting after that as only seven shots separate SEC power Auburn in fifth place from two teams, Georgia, out of the SEC, and yet another Pac-12 power in Southern California, tied for ninth place.

   One or two teams that begin the final round outside the top eight entering the final round almost always make a big move upward. And one or two teams that begin the day inside the cutline for match play nearly always falter in the final round.

   No. 17 Auburn registered a 7-over 295 Sunday that left the Tigers in fifth place, seven shots behind UCLA with a 21-over 885 total. No. 10 Florida State, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, was two shots behind Auburn in sixth place after the Seminoles posted an 8-over 296 that left them with a 23-over 887 total.

   SEC champion LSU, ranked 14^th, and Mountain West Conference champion San Jose State, ranked fifth, are the last two in the match-play bracket going into the final round as the Bayou Tigers and the Spartans are tied for seventh place, each sitting at 24-over 888.

   LSU struggled a little in Sunday’s third round with a 13-over 301, but the Bayou Tigers are still very much in with a shot at match play and I’m not sure anybody is relishing the chance of a match against a team with Ingrid Lindblad, a junior from Sweden and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, and Latanna Stone, a junior from Riverview, Fla. and No. 37 in the Women’s WAGR, at the top of the lineup. Plus, LSU had to survive a grueling match-play test to capture the SEC crown just a few weeks ago.

   San Jose State had the second-best round of the day, a 3-under 285, as the Spartans made their move to join LSU at 24-over.

   No. 27 Georgia and No. 11 Southern California are tied for ninth place, four shots behind LSU and San Jose State, each landing on 28-over 892. The Bulldogs registered a 10-over 298 while the Trojans posted a 12-over 300. Both are very much in with a shot to make the match-play bracket.

   Backing up Zhang for Stanford was Sadie Englemann, a sophomore from Austin, Texas who signed for a solid 2-under 70 to join a group of six players tied for fifth place in the individual chase with a 1-over 217 total.

   A good sign for the Cardinal was Rachel Heck, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn. and No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, also recording a 2-under 70 that left her in the group tied for 11^th place with a 2-over 218 total.

   Heck was the individual champion at Grayhawk a year ago. She hasn’t been playing at that level recently, but maybe she’s getting some good vibes from returning to the scene of one of her greatest individual achievements.

   Aline Krauter, a senior from Germany and No. 27 in the Women’s WAGR, posted a 2-over 74 that left her in the group tied for 34^th place with a 7-over 223 total.

   Rounding out the Stanford lineup was Brooke Seay, a junior from San Diego and No. 43 in the Women’s WAGR, as she matched Krauter’s 2-over 74 to land among the group tied for 52^nd place with a 9-over 225 total.

   Zhang’s closest pursuers in the individual chase were Georgia’s Jenny Bae, a senior from Suwanee, Ga. and No. 74 in the Women’s WAGR, and Oregon’s Tze-Han (Heather) Lin, a senior from Taiwan and No. 97 in the Women’s WAGR, both of whom landed on 2-under 214 through three rounds.

   Bae’s 5-under 67 was the best round of the tournament to this point while Lin carded her second consecutive 1-under 71.

   San Jose State’s Natasha Andrea Oon, a senior from Malaysia and No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR, was the only other player under par through three rounds as she carded a 2-under 70 and was alone in fourth place with a 1-under 215 total.

   LSU’s Lindblad was one of the five players who joined Stanford’s Englemann in the large group of six players tied for fifth place at 1-over 217. Lindblad, the SEC’s individual champion who tied for second place in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship with teammate Stone, recorded a 1-over 73.

   Rounding out that group at 1-over were Texas A&M’s Jennie Park, a junior from Carrollton, Texas, UCLA’s Ty Akabane, a redshirt sophomore from Danville, Calif., Furman’s Anna Morgan, a junior from Spartanburg, S.C. competing as an individual and No. 90 in the Women’s WAGR, and Virginia’s Beth Lillie, a graduate student from Fullerton, Calif. and No. 95 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Park and Akabane each matched par with a 72, Morgan registered a 2-over 74 and Lillie posted a 3-over 75.

   Lillie and the No. 8 Cavaliers survived the 54-hole team cut to the top 15 teams as they are tied for 13^th place at 37-over 901 total.

   ACC champion Wake Forest, ranked fourth, failed to make that cut as the immensely talented Demon Deacons finished in a tie for 15^th place with South Carolina, no slouch at No. 3 in the Golfstat rankings, each landing on 39-over 903. The Gamecocks, an SEC power, edged Wake Forest by a shot in the playoff to live to play another day.

   Virginia sophomore Jennifer Cleary, a Tower Hill School product, will also play four rounds at Grayhawk. The reigning Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion has struggled a little on the Raptor Course as her 4-over 76 in Sunday’s third round left her in the group tied for 93^rd place with a 231 total.