April 17, 2011
TEMPE, Ariz. - Earlier in the week, Stanford head coach Caroline O'Connor emphasized to her young team the importance of finishing off early rounds stronger.
Her message was well-received, as the Cardinal is tied for first place after one round at the Pac-10 Women's Golf Championships being held on the Karsten Course in Tempe, Ariz.
Stanford shot a season-low 282 on Sunday and is tied atop the leaderboard with second-ranked USC.
Second-ranked UCLA is in third place, two strokes off the pace at 284 (-4) while Oregon and Arizona are tied for fourth at 290 (+2).
Three Stanford players -- freshman Marissa Mar along with sophomores Sally Watson and Kristina Wong -- were all in red numbers for the Cardinal on day.
Mar finds herself tied for second place after carding an opening round 69 (-3). She is just one stroke off the pace of first round leader Tiffany Lua of UCLA, who finished with a 68.
Mar picked up birdies on holes No. 5, 6, 11 and 13 before making her only bogey of the day on the par-4 18th hole.
Watson and Wong are tied for fifth place after carding a pair of 70's (-2).
Watson birdied four out of her first eight holes before giving three strokes back with bogies on holes No. 9, 13 and 17. She finished with a birdie on No. 18 for her two-under round of 70.
Wong also had four birdies on the front side. After opening par-bogey-par, she ripped off three straight birdies on holes No. 4, 5 and 6 and picked up another on the par-4 ninth hole.
She made eight straight pars on the back nine before making a bogey on the difficult par-4, 18th hole.
Senior Rebecca Durham is tied 19th after and opening round 73. Durham would have been in red numbers, as well, if not for a double bogey on the par-3 seventh hole.
Junior Lila Barton is tied for 27th after finishing with a four-over 76.
The Pac-10 Women's Golf Championships continues with second round play on Monday. Teams will tee off at 8:00 a.m.