SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Jeffrey Swegle didn't see it coming.
Struggling with his game coming into the 49th Goodwin tournament, the Stanford senior blazed a career-best 8-under 63 on Thursday at sun-baked TPC Harding Park Golf Course. He fashioned nine birdies and one bogey – a three-putt on the par-4 first hole – then played flawlessly the rest of the way, hitting 17 greens in regulation.
"I've honestly been playing terrible for the last three weeks," said Swegle, whose previous low was a 7-under 64 at the 2016 Pac-12 Championships. "Franklin (Huang) and I were just laughing because we played three days ago with two other guys and they were concerned I wasn't going to break 75 this week."
That's golf.
"I started hitting it better yesterday," Swegle said. "I really love this course. It's my senior year and I really hadn't been playing that well the last couple months. My mindset was just to go out and enjoy my last home tournament."
Swegle hit it close a few times and also buried several putts from 20 feet or longer. He capped the day by flagging a 9-iron to 10 feet at the tough par-4 18th hole and drained the birdie putt.
His inspired performance lifted the No. 20 and defending champion Cardinal into the first day lead with a 7-under total of 277, one stroke ahead of Northwestern and two in front of Oklahoma and Oregon in the 26-team, 54-hole event.
"I'm happy for the guys," said Conrad Ray, the Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. "There's a lot of golf left on a demanding course. Jeff played great, but the guys felt they left some shots out there, so hopefully there's better golf ahead."
Making the most of the 75-degree, mostly windless day, Swegle earned the individual lead by one shot over Norman Xiong of Oregon. Forty-four players shot par or better.
The Stanford White team combined for a 3-over 287 and is tied for 10th.
Brandon Wu shot 69 and is tied for 10th, while Huang (70) is knotted for 16th. Isaiah Salinda, Henry Shimp, Bradley Knox and Ashwin Arasu posted 72s and are tied for 45th, while Christopher Meyers and David Snyder added 75s and are tied for 75th. Dakota McNealy (80) is tied 133rd.
On Friday, the Cardinal team tees off at 8:25 a.m. PT on No. 10, while the White squad starts at 1:50 p.m. on No. 1. The tournament is open to the public and admission is free.
Live scoring is available at GoStanford.com.
