LA QUINTA, Calif. – Maverick McNealy played like a man on a mission.
That mission Wednesday was to help the Stanford men’s golf team climb from 10th place after the opening round of The Prestige at PGA West into contention for its second straight win at the event. Stanford was seventh through two rounds of the three-day, 54-hole showdown.
McNealy used nine birdies to post a remarkable 8-under 64 for his third medalist honor on the season. Only eight players in Stanford history have recorded a round lower than McNealy’s 64.
“My game has felt really solid for a while, but I really started to light it up coming down the stretch of our events, especially the last six holes at our last tournament in Hawaii,” McNealy said. “I tried to get in that mindset from the get-go today, and played possibly the best round of golf in my life. I had two bad tee balls, both of which I couldn’t swing at because I was next to a tree. But I absolutely stuffed irons all day and even hit the pin from 157 yards out on the ninth. I was happy with how I kept the pedal down during the whole round.”
McNealy followed an opening-round birdie with a bogey on the second hole. He proceeded to birdie every other hole from four to 14, and then rattled off birdies on 15 and 16. McNealy (68-69-64) was 15-under overall.
“But what I’m most proud of from today is how our team played,” McNealy continued. “We fed off each others’ momentum today. It got me going on eight to hear that Viraat (Badhwar) was 5-under and (David) Boote was 4-under. I’m really happy for the guys. We have been putting in great work and it’s starting to pay off. We’re going to take this momentum into our next event.”
While the Cardinal briefly held the lead with a tournament-best 20-under 268, Arizona State used a late surge to take the tournament title. The Sun Devils were 31-under while Stanford (288-281-268) finished at 27-under.
Stanford’s 20-under tied the best single round in program history. In 2006, the Cardinal rallied for a 20-under at the CordeValle Classic.
"The guys came out of hibernation today," Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf Conrad Ray said. "We were excited about their rounds and they put the pedal down after a very good start. It was fun to get some momentum going and to post a number for Arizona State to look at. There is a lot of work ahead of us, but a very positive move by a young team today."
It was the third straight top-10 finish for the Cardinal, which won The Prestige last season. Even more, McNealy was the program’s second straight medalist at the event, following the path blazed by Patrick Rodgers’ 2014 victory.
McNealy was four shots better than second-place Xander Schauffele (San Diego State) and Jon Rahm (Arizona State), who both finished at 11-under.
Including McNealy, four Cardinal finished its final rounds in the red. Viraat Badhwar tied for 19th and had a brilliant 6-under 66. Badhwar went 5-under on the front and was 6-under through 11. He neutralized a bogey on 12 with a birdie on the par-4 13th.
David Boote, who tied for 27th, collected eight birdies with three bogeys for his 5-under performance. Franklin Huang tied for 21st following his 1-under finale and Jeffrey Swegle had an even-par kind of day.
Individuals Patrick Grimes (t-56th), Dominick Francks (t-63rd) and Bradley Knox (t-77th) each went 2-over to conclude the event.
The Cardinal will now dust off its passports and head to the Querencia Cabo Collegiate (March 1-3) in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.