BRADENTON, Fla. – Maverick McNealy’s even-par 72 led the Stanford men’s golf team Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Championships. Stanford’s 9-over 297 was 13 strokes better than its opening round at The Concession Golf Club, a par-72 track playing at 7,483 yards.
“We made progress today and played better, but still need to tighten up our games,” said Conrad Ray, Stanford’s Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf. “It comes down to hitting our targets and being more comfortable on the greens.”
The Cardinal is in 26th place at 31-over after 36 holes.
The event resumes Sunday with live results available at GoStanford.com. The top 15 teams after 54 holes of stroke play will advance to a fourth round of stroke play. After the fourth round, the top eight teams will head to match play to determine the team champion.
Starting on the back nine, McNealy bogeyed his first and seventh holes and did not fault again. He played his final 11 holes at 1-under for a score that was six shots better than his previous.
McNealy putted much better than his opening round and felt more comfortable reading the ever-challenging greens. His first shot of the day found water down the right side of the first fairway, but he recovered to save bogey.
Viraat Badhwar had three birdies during a round of 76, and Franklin Huang’s 3-over came with one bogey on the back nine.
Stanford received a 2-over from David Boote, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 third. Boote buried a pitching wedge on the fly from 117 yards out, a shot that required a bit of surgery for the damaged cup.
“My lucky number must be 117,” Boote said after the round.
Jeffrey Swegle, who led Stanford in round one with a 2-over, was 6-over during his second circuit.