SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Maverick McNealy set a Western Intercollegiate record Wednesday with a 16-under 194, breaking the 54-hole tournament’s best mark by five strokes at Pasatiempo Golf Club.
Runner-up Aaron Wise’s 14-under 196 in the 70th edition of the tournament would have been a tournament record, yet Wise lost by two strokes to McNealy.
Trailing Oregon’s Wise by one shot entering the final round, McNealy played hole Nos. 6-10 in 5-under to pull ahead. He wrapped up with a 6-under 64 for his 10th collegiate victory, one shy of the Stanford record shared by Patrick Rodgers and Tiger Woods.
“Of the 10, this was the toughest,” McNealy said. “I played lights out, and I still had my back against the wall.”
The individual title helped Stanford post its first team victory on the season. The Cardinal shot 9-under 1,041 in the play-six-count-five format. USC finished second at 1,051. Oregon, which led after the first round, placed third at 1,059, followed by California (1,062) and Pepperdine (1,065).
“It was a great team effort all the way around for the win,” said Conrad Ray, Stanford’s Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf. “Maverick’s play was superb, and for him to break the scoring record of a tournament that has so much history and on a course that was so challenging is really a feather in his cap.
“Franklin Huang’s play as of late has been stellar and David Boote continues to post solid numbers as our senior leader. We are really looking forward to riding some of this momentum into the Pac-12 Conference Championships.”
Huang (68-71-70) tied for eighth with David Boote (74-66-70) finishing 12th.
Brandon Wu (t-28th) contributed rounds of 70-74-72, and Viraat Badhwar (70-72-77) matched Jeffrey Swegle (71-75-73) for 42nd.
Stanford will seek a third consecutive conference title when the Pac-12 Championships is played April 29-May 1 at The Country Club in Salt Lake City.