LAS VEGAS – No. 10 Stanford finished tied for fourth among 15 men's golf teams Wednesday at the Southern Highlands Collegiate. The Cardinal fell two spots from its standing after 36 holes.
The three-day event at the par-72 Southern Highlands Golf Course yielded scores of 281-294-298 for the Cardinal, nine strokes over par and matching the output of Pepperdine.
"It was a disappointing day, but you learn a lot of lessons in situations like these," said Conrad Ray, Stanford's Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. "It was a challenging golf course, and the setup was as close as you'd find to an NCAA setup. There's a lot of golf left this spring for our team."
Stanford gets back on the course when it plays host to The Goodwin (March 30-April 1).
USC won the event at 11-under with Oklahoma State (-1) taking second. Oklahoma's Grant Hirschman defeated Cal's Collin Morikawa in a playoff for medalist honors.
Ten of the nation's top-25 teams competed in the event.
Stanford could not find its groove early on the final 18 holes, going 3-over through the first pair of holes.
Maverick McNealy led the Cardinal with a 16th-place finish at 1-under. He was 3-over Wednesday with four bogeys on the front. He had pars on eight straight holes before a bogey on the par-3 17th.
Two spots behind was Brandon Wu, who took 18th at 1-over and carded a final-round 3-over 75.
Isaiah Salinda managed three birdies during his 3-over 75, giving him a 25th-place finish at 4-over.
Viraat Badhwar moved up to 37th by checking in with an 8-over through 54 holes, including a 1-over in his final round.
Franklin Huang's 9-over put him at 42nd among individuals.
