EUGENE, Ore. – David Boote recorded four birdies during his final six holes Friday at Eugene Country Club to lead Stanford on the opening day of the NCAA Championships. Boote’s 1-under-par 69 was the Cardinal’s best score by four strokes and put him in a tie for seventh in the medalist race.
The Cardinal’s 12-over 292 was good for 24th among the 30-team field. However, Stanford is only 10 shots behind first-place Arkansas and TCU, who share the lead at 2-over.
Stanford grabbed the lead through the first few holes by combining to go 3-under, but a few holes later on the front nine the squad dipped to 3-over and out of the top-10.
With Stanford starting the round on the 10th hole, Boote was 3-over through his front nine after beginning the circuit with a birdie. He hit the trifecta with birdies on his 12th, 13th and 14th holes, and sandwiched pars around a birdie on his 17th.
“I didn’t hit the ball great on the front nine,” Boote said. “On the back nine, my putter got hot, which was the main reason for the good finish to the round.”
Boote narrowly missed a breaking uphill putt from the fringe on the final hole. He one-putted the final six holes.
Brandon Wu birdied the first hole of his NCAA debut and stayed at 1-under until consecutive bogeys on holes seven and eight. He would record one more birdie while posting a 3-over 73.
Franklin Huang and Jeffrey Swegle each went 5-over, though Swegle’s came with four birdies.
Maverick McNealy (+6) saved his lone birdie for the par-5 fourth. Boote and Swegle also birdied the hole.
Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego State), Will Starke (South Carolina) and Theo Humphrey (Vanderbilt) are tied for first in the medalist race at 3-under.
Stroke play resumes Saturday with live results available at GoStanford.com.