Ganne leads Stanford past Southern California at La Costa to give the Cardinal a fourth national championship

 

   The sting never really goes away.

   You could sense that every time Stanford teed it up in the wraparound 2026-2026 season. The Cardinal still felt the disappointment they experienced when they lost to Northwestern in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course in Carlsbad, Calif.

   They never said that they had played badly or that they had choked, that would demean Northwestern’s accomplishment. Stanford didn’t give away the championship, the Cardinal got beat.

   So what to do? Simple. Get better.

   Find yourself the most difficult match-play challenges you can find and try to conquer them.

   That’s what Megha Ganne, a senior from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 10 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), did in making her way through the match-play gauntlet of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and putting her name on the Robert Cox Trophy at the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon.

   That’s what Paula Martin Sampedro, a junior from Spain and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, did in marching through the match-play gauntlet of the Royal & Ancient Women’s Amateur Championship and claiming the title at Nairn Golf Club in Scotland.

   It’s no coincidence that those two holders of two of the biggest titles in women’s amateur golf contested at match play, Ganne and Martin Sampedro, earned two of the three points Atlantic Coast Conference champion Stanford needed Wednesday to claim a 4-1 victory over Big Ten champion Southern California and take a fourth national championship back to The Farm.

   Ganne learned to lead from Rachel Heck and Ganne learned well. It is the secret sauce to dominant programs like Stanford, no matter the sport. The leaders lead and create new leaders who lead the next group and on and on it goes.

   “We’ve been so laser-focused on this moment,” Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Milias director of women’s golf at Stanford, told the Stanford website. “Today when (the team) came out, they were calm, collected and focused on what they were trying accomplish.”

   Stanford, No. 1 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings throughout the 2025-’26 season, put the hammer down early in the Final Match because the Cardinal knew they had to.

   If Stanford didn’t play well against its old Pac-12 rival, No. 2 in the Scoreboard rankings, Southern Cal was fully capable of taking the title.

   Every player in the two lineups appears in the top 100 in the Women’s WAGR.

   It was the highest-ranked player among the 10 in the two lineups, Southern Cal’s Kylie Chong, a sophomore from Torrance, Calif. and No. 61 in the Women’s WAGR who was credited with the lone point for the Trojans as she held a 1-up lead on Andrea Revuelta, a sophomore from Spain and No. 3 in the Women’s WAGR, when Stanford put the title away.

   Martin Sampedro, batting leadoff, set the tone for Stanford with a 3 and 2 victory over Catherine Park, Southern Cal’s veteran senior from Irvine, Calif. and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Meja Ortengren, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, simply let her considerable talent flow to put a second point on the board for Stanford with a 6 and 5 victory over a very good player in Jasmine Koo, a sophomore from Cerritos, Calif. and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Revuelta, in the second spot in the lineup, was locked in a tense battle with Chong.

   Stanford’s other senior leader, Kelly Xu of Claremont, Calif. and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR, had her hands full with Southern Cal’s Elise Lee, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. and No. 54 in the Women’s WAGR, although Xu held a 1-up lead with two holes remaining when the outcome was assured in the Cardinal’s favor.

   Southern Cal’s Koo and Stanford’s Xu will be teammates next month on the United State team when it takes on Great Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup Match at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif.

   But Ganne was the anchor, much as Heck had been the last time Stanford claimed a national championship in the spring of 2024.

   Ganne jumped out to a 4-up lead through five holes and, when an excuse-me 15-footer for birdie found the hole at the 14^th, Bailey Shoemaker, a junior from Dade City, Fla. and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR, was dormie.

   Shoemaker had a pretty good look at birdie from 12 feet on the 15^th hole, but couldn’t get it to fall. That left Ganne with a three-footer for par and the championship. She did not miss it.

   When Stanford arrived at the ACC Championship at Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington, N.C. last month, its determination was on display.

   The Cardinal had fallen to an ACC OG Wake Forest in the conference semifinals a year ago. This time Stanford rolled to a 5-0 victory over an SMU team that validated its run to the ACC final by claiming the team title in the Waco Regional.

   Stanford tuned up for its return engagement at La Costa by torching its home course and rolling to the team crown in the Stanford Regional by going a whopping 42-under par.

   Stanford would not be denied this time. The Cardinal were not denied.

 

 

 

No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Southern California will meet in NCAA Championship's Final Match at La Costa

 

   As the spring portion of the wraparound 2025-2026 college golf season wore on, a Stanford-Southern California confrontation in the Final Match of the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course in Carlsbad, Calif. seemed almost inevitable.

   But golf, particularly match-play golf, is way too unpredictable for any kind of inevitability to creep into the conversation.

   The old Pac-12 rivals, Atlantic Coast Conference champion Stanford, No. 1 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, and Big Ten champion Southern California, No. 2 in the Scoreboard rankings, will meet Wednesday in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at La Costa, but only because neither team ever, for one second, let its guard down on quarterfinal/semifinal day Tuesday.

   Stanford reached the final with a deceptive 5-0 victory over Eastern Michigan in one semifinal.

   The Mid-American Conference runnerup Eagles, No. 27 in the Scoreboard rankings, were playing in their first NCAA Championship. But Eastern Michigan never looked overwhelmed.

   To the contrary, the Eagles booked their semifinal date with one of the great teams in the history of women’s college golf when one of their Leovao twins, Jasmine Leovao, a senior from Oceanside, Calif., calmly rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the North Course’s par-5 finishing hole to complete a 1-up victory over Cindy Hsu, a senior from Taiwan, and deliver a 3.5-1.5 victory for Eastern Michigan over Southeastern Conference power Texas, No. 5 in the Scoreboard rankings.

   All the other Leovao twin, Janae Leovao, did was hand Farah O’Keefe, Texas’ junior home girl from Austin, Texas and less than 24 hours removed from capturing the NCAA individual crown, a stunning 5 and 3 setback. O’Keefe was No. 4 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   Stanford approached Eastern Michigan exactly as it should have, as a really, really scary opponent.

   Meja Ortengren, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, got Stanford off to a great start by rolling to a 4 and 3 victory over Erina Tan, a senior from Australia.

   But the Leovao twins, who transferred to Eastern Michigan for their final season of college golf from Long Beach State, were proving to be stubborn.

   Andrea Revuelta, a sophomore from Spain and No. 3 in the Women’s WAGR, ultimately subdued Jasmine Leovao with a hard-fought 2 and 1 victory.

   Paula Martin Sampedro, a junior from Spain and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, never did quite put away Jenae Leovao, although Martin Sampedro, winner of last summer’s Royal & Ancient Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn Golf Club in Scotland, had a 1-up lead with two holes to play when it was no longer necessary to play out the match.

   It went into the books as a full point for the Cardinal, but it was hardly over.

   Stanford got its clinching point from one of its senior leaders, Megha Ganne, a senior from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR, as Ganne, the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, earned a 4 and 3 verdict over Baiyok Sukterm, a junior from Thailand.

   Stanford’s other standout senior, Kelly Xu of Claremont, Calif. and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR, was taken to the 18^th hole before claiming a 2-up victory over Savannah de Bock, a senior from Belgium.

   Southern Cal earned its spot in the Final Match by earning a 3-2 victory over a really good Arkansas team, another SEC power that was No. 7 in the Scoreboard rankings.

   Jasmine Koo, the Trojans’ talented sophomore from Cerritos, Calif. and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR, got a quick point on the board for Southern Cal with a 3 and 2 victory over Reagan Zibilski, a senior from Springfield, Mo. and No. 49 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Koo had faced a formidable opponent earlier in the day and took one for the team in a 5 and 4 setback at the hands of Duke’s fabulous freshman, Rianne Malixi of the Philippines and No. 14 in the Women’s WAGR, in a quarterfinal match.

   But Koo’s teammates picked her up as Southern Cal got past the Blue Devils, winners of seven national championships, 3-2, to reach the semifinals.

   Catherine Park, Southern Cal’s steady senior from Irvine, Calif. and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR, pulled out a 3 and 2 victory over Arkansas’ Abbey Schutte, a junior from Goodyear, Ariz.

   But Arkansas got a point from its stud, Maria Jose Marin, a junior from Colombia and No. 5 in the Women’s WAGR who rolled to a 4 and 3 decision over Kylie Chong, a sophomore from Torrance, Calif. and No. 61 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Jose Marin, who came up just short in defense of the NCAA individual title she won a year ago, captured the crown in the prestigious Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship earlier this spring.

   Southern Cal’s Elise Lee, a sophomore from Irvine, Calif. and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR, delivered the clinching point for the Trojans with a 5 and 3 victory over Natalie Blonien, a sophomore from Altus, Okla.

   Southern Cal’s Bailey Shoemaker, a junior from Dade City, Fla. and No. 54 in the Women’s WAGR, was trailing a tough opponent in Sara Brentcheneff, a freshman from France and No. 50 in the Women’s WAGR, 1-down through 17 holes when the Trojans clinched the match, so that went into the books as a point for the Razorbacks.

   Stanford had started a little slowly in its morning quarterfinal against West Coast Conference champion Pepperdine, No. 11 in the Scoreboard rankings, before earning what went into the books as a 5-0 victory.

   Ortengren had her hands full with the Waves’ Grace Anderson, a sophomore from Canada, but the talented Ortengren rallied from 3-down with six holes to play to pull out a 1-up victory and that seemed to open the floodgates for the Cardinal.

   Revuelta kept the momentum going with a 5 and 4 decision over Kylee Choi, a freshman from Murrieta, Calif. and No. 93 in the Women’s WAGR, and Martin Sampedro, the other half of Stanford’s Spanish Connection, earned the clinching point with a 3 and 2 victory over Yingzhi Zhu, a senior from China.

   Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Malias director of women’s golf at Stanford, went with her seniors, Xu and Ganne, in the final two spots in the Cardinal lineup and both were ahead when the outcome was assured.

   Xu led Janeath Wong, a senior from Australia and No. 73 in the Women’s WAGR, 1-up, through 15 holes while Ganne held a 3-up lead over Eunseo Choi, a sophomore from New Zealand No. 58 in the Women’s WAGR, through 15 holes.

   Meanwhile, Eastern Michigan was extending its magical run to the NCAA Championship’s final four with its stunning victory over Texas.

   In addition to the two full points put up by the Leovao twins, the Eagles got another full point from Savannah de Bock, a senior from Belgium who claimed a 5 and 3 decision over the Longhorns’ Angela Heo, a senior from Murrieta, Calif.

   The marquee matchup of the morning quarterfinals pitted Southern California against one of the most decorated programs in women’s college golf in Duke.

   Park set the tone for the Trojans with a 5 and 3 victory over Andie Smith, a graduate student from Hobe Sound, Fla. and No. 84 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Shoemaker rolled to a 6 and 4 victory over Duke freshman Avery McCrery, the Wilmington, Del. native who began her scholastic career at the Tower Hill School.

   Southern Cal got the clincher as Chong cruised to a 4 and 3 win over Anna Canado Espinal, a sophomore from Spain.

   In addition to Malixi’s victory over Koo, Duke picked up another full point as Katie Li, a junior from Basking Ridge, N.J., earned a 5 and 3 victory over Elise Lee, who was in the starting lineup for Northwestern in its epic upset of Stanford in the Final Match a year ago at La Costa.

   Arkansas had begun its day with a surprisingly easy 5-0 victory over Big 12 representative Oklahoma State, No. 21 in the Scoreboard rankings, in its quarterfinal match.

   The Razorbacks had clinched the victory with Jose Marin holding a 2-up lead over the Cowgirls’ Marta Livchenko, a junior from Latvia and No. 47 in the Women’s WAGR, through 15 holes in a battle of top-10 finishers in the NCAA Championship’s 72 holes of stroke play.

 

 

 

 

 

Stanford earns top seed in match play in the NCAA Championship at La Costa; Texas' O'Keefe claims individual crown

 

   They’ve waited a year to avenge that bitter defeat at the hands of Northwestern in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match.

   Tuesday morning, the time arrives for Stanford to try to win three matches and bring a fourth national championship back to The Farm.

   For the sixth straight spring, the Cardinal, the No. 1 team in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings throughout the wraparound 2025-2026 season, will enter match play as the top seed after dominating four rounds of qualifying with a 22-under-par 1,130 total.

   Stroke play concluded on a Memorial Day Monday at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course with wind and some tough pin positions conspiring to send scores higher.

   But Atlantic Coast Conference champion Stanford, behind its senior leader, Megha Ganne, the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 10 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), closed with a solid 1-under 287 over the 6,330-yard, par-72 North Course layout, the second-best team round of the day.

   An individual champion was crowned Monday as Texas’ Farah O’Keefe, a junior home girl from Austin, Texas and No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, finished with a flourish, making back-to-back birdies the 17^th and 18^th holes for a 2-under 70 that gave her a 12-under 276 total and a two-shot victory over Ganne.

   O’Keefe, who has been so solid throughout this 2025-’26 season, led the Longhorns, out of the Southeastern Conference, into the match-play bracket as they finished in a tie for third place with SEC rival Arkansas, each landing on 1-over 1,153.

   Texas closed with a 7-over 295 to get its share of third place with Arkansas with the Longhorns getting the four seed in a tiebreaker.

   Stanford’s closest pursuer was its old Pac-12 rival Southern California, the Big Ten champion which finished 13 shots behind the Cardinal in second place with a 9-under 1,143 total.

   The Women of Troy are No. 2 in the Scoreboard rankings and, by finishing second, they will be in the opposite bracket from Stanford. A 1 vs. 2 Final Match is still very much in play, but it is match play, after all, and anything can, and often does, happen.

   Catherine Park, a senior from Irvine, Calif. and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR, led the way for Southern Cal as she closed with a 2-over 74 to finish alone in fourth place in the individual standings at 8-under 280.

   It was Ganne, O’Keefe and Park who represented the United States in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship at the Tenah Merah Country Club in Singapore last October with the Red, White & Blue lifting the Espirito Santo Trophy in a tiebreaker after finishing in a tie for the top spot with Spain and South Korea.

   Ganne seems particularly focused on closing out her career at Stanford with a second national championship on her watch.

   She closed with a 2-under 70 to earn a runnerup finish in the individual chase with a 10-under 286 total that left her two shots behind O’Keefe.

   Stanford will open match play Tuesday morning against West Coast Conference champion Pepperdine, No. 11 in the Scoreboard rankings, as the Waves closed with a 3-over 291 to edge Big 12 champion Iowa State by a shot for the final spot in the match-play bracket with an 11-over 1,163 total.

   Arkansas, No. 7 in the Scoreboard rankings, shared third place with its SEC rival Texas at 1-over after the Razorbacks closed with a 4-over 292 and earned the three seed in the match-play bracket in a tiebreaker.

   Arkansas ended up with two players among the top 10 in the final individual standings, led by Maria Jose Marin, a junior from Colombia and No. 5 in the Women’s WAGR who finished in a tie for fifth place with Tennessee’s Kyra Van Kan, a sophomore from South Africa, each landing on 7-under 209.

   Jose Marin was the defending NCAA individual champion and was paired with O’Keefe, who would succeed her in claiming medalist honors. Jose Marin added a victory in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship last month to her burgeoning amateur resume.

   Jose Marin closed with a 2-under 70.

   Jose Marin was joined in the top 10 by her teammate Reagan Zibilski, a senior from Springfield, Mo. and No. 49 in the Women’s WAGR. Zibilski also closed with a 2-under 70 to finish among a trio of players tied for eighth place at 5-under 283.

   Arkansas’ quarterfinal opponent will be Big 12 representative Oklahoma State, No. 21 in the Scoreboard rankings, as the Cowgirls also had a pair of players finish among the top 10 in the individual standings that powered them to a sixth-place finish in the team chase with a 3-over 1,155 total.

   Oklahoma State struggled a little in the final round, closing with a 301, but held on to earn a spot in the match-play bracket for the first time in six seasons.

   Ellie Bushnell, a junior from Granite Bay, Calif., closed with a 1-over 73 as she led the way for the Cowgirls by finishing in seventh place with a 6-under 282 total.

   Her teammate, Marta Silchecnko, a junior from Latvia and No. 47 in the Women’s WAGR, was in the trio tied for eighth place, a shot behind Bushnell at 5-under 283. Silchenko, who was hanging around near the top of the leaderboard all week at La Costa, closed with a 2-over 74.

   Probably the most intriguing story of Monday’s final round was those Eastern Michigan Eagles, the Mid-American Conference runnerup and No. 27 in the Scoreboard rankings, finishing in fifth place in the team standings, a shot behind Arkansas and Texas with a 2-over 1,154 total.

   Making its first appearance at nationals, Eastern Michigan didn’t back its way into the match-play bracket, the Eagles seized the moment, recording the best team round of the day, a 4-under 284.

   Eastern Michigan will draw Texas in the opening round of match play.

   A seventh-place finish for ACC power Duke sets up a blue-blood women’s college golf showdown in the quarterfinals between the Blue Devils and Southern California.

   Led by Rianne Malixi, its fabulous freshman from the Philippines and No. 4 in the Women’s WAGR, Duke closed with a solid 5-over 293 to finish four shots behind Oklahoma State in seventh place with a 1,159 total, comfortably ahead of the battle between Pepperdine and Iowa State for the final spot in the match-play bracket.

   Malixi, winner of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in the summer of 2024, started slowly at La Costa with an opening round of 1-over 73.

   But she found her groove and was coming hard at the end. Malixi carded a 2-under 69 in Saturday’s second round and a 4-under 68 in Sunday’s third round. She made a run at the lead in Monday’s final round before settling for another 69 to finish a shot behind Stanford’s Ganne in third place in the individual standings with 9-under 279 total.

   Backing up Ganne in Stanford’s all-star lineup were Ganne’s classmate, Kelly Xu of Claremont, Calif. and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR, and Meja Ortengren, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, both of whom landed among the group tied for 14^th place with a 2-under 286 total.

   Xu was the low Cardinal in Monday’s final round with a solid 3-under 69. Ortengren had begun the day just a shot behind the co-leaders O’Keefe and Southern Cal’s Park, but struggled in Monday’s final round, finishing up with a 79.

   Paula Martin Sampedro, a junior from Spain and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, closed with a 2-over 74 and finished among the trio tied for 20^th place with an even-par 288 total.

   Martin Sampedro defeated O’Keefe in the final last summer to capture the Royal & Ancient Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn Golf Club in Scotland.

   Rounding out the Stanford lineup was Andrea Revuelta, a sophomore from Spain and No. 3 in the Women’s WAGR, as she also closed with a 2-over 74 to finish in a tie for 53^rd place with an 9-over 296 total.

   Revuelta was the runnerup to Jose Marin in last month’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

   Tennessee’s Van Kan, one of the heroes of the Volunteers’ run to the SEC Championship, matched par in the final round with a 72 to get a share of fifth place with Duke’s Malixi at 7-under. It was the second-highest finish at nationals for a Tennessee player in the program’s history.

   Rounding out the trio tied for eighth place at 5-under was TCU’s Kristin Angosta, a junior from Las Vegas, Nev. who was competing as an individual. Angosta closed with a 1-over 73 to become the first Horned Frog to finish in the top 10 in the NCAA Championship in 41 years.

   Duke’s Avery McCrery, the Wilmington, Del. native who began her scholastic career at the Tower Hill School, will finish her freshman season with the Blue Devils playing a match in the NCAA Championship.

   McCrery, the Girls Junior PGA Championship winner in 2024 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., contributed a 2-over 74 in Monday’s final round with the Dookies clinging to their spot in the match-play bracket.

   That left McCrery in the group tied for 46^th place with a 7-over 295 total in her first appearance at nationals.

   Another of McCrery’s teammates, Katie Li, a junior from Basking Ridge, N.J., struggled a little in Monday’s final round with a 6-over 78, but finished among the trio tied for 55^th place with a 9-over 297 total.

   Another New Jersey native, Northwestern sophomore Megan Meng, who starred scholastically at Hopewell Valley Central in Pennington, also closed with a 6-over 78 as she finished in the group tied for 64^th place with an 11-over 299 total.

   The Wildcats, in defense of their national championship, finished in 14^th place among the 15 teams that survived the cut following the third round with a 25-over 1,177 total. Northwestern, No. 31 in the Scoreboard rankings, is a perennial Big Ten power.

   The most exciting day in college women’s golf, quarterfinal/semifinal day at the NCAA Championship, beckons. Let the matches begin.