PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. - No. 5 Stanford paced the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge's 18-team field with a third-round 5-over 289 on Tuesday, climbing two spots for a third-place finish in its season opener.
Stanford (295-292-289) was 24-overall through the 54-hole tournament, saving its best round for last at the difficult par-71 Palos Verdes Golf Club.
"We feel great about our play this week," said Anne Walker, Stanford's Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf. "We lost shots on the first day while figuring out some of the intricacies of Palos Verdes, but as the week went on, we made a slow climb into third."
UCLA won the event at 15-over, with Alabama (+19) claiming second. Olivia Mehaffey (Arizona State), Kaitlyn Papp (Texas) and Lilia Vu (UCLA) shared medalist honors at 1-under, and Andrea Lee was two strokes behind in fourth place.
Lee (71-74-69) moved up 10 spots in Tuesday's round, nearly carding a flawless final round to finish 2-under on the day. Starting her round on the sixth hole, Lee was 1-over through four but played the next 14 holes at 3-under.
Albane Valenzuela (76-72-72) leaped 17 spots to finish 16th. She was 7-over for the tournament to log a top-20 finish. Valenzuela was 3-under through eight holes before settling for a final-round 1-over
Mika Liu (72-72-74) tied for eighth at 5-over, her third top-10 finish on the season.
"The underclassmen continue to impress, and they're showing that they are world-class," Walker added. "Andrea, Mika and Albane really played well, but they all feel like they left some shots out there, and they are excited to get back to practice."
Shannon Aubert (76-74-79) and Ziyi Wang (80-75-74) tied for 54th at 16-over.
Stanford returns to action Feb. 26-27 at the Bruin Wave Invitational in San Luis Obispo, California.
