FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Stanford survived a tough start and kept its cool on Sunday in the third round of the NCAA Championships at the Blessings Golf Club.
Sitting at 2-over par after two rounds and in second place, the Cardinal posted an 11-over 299. Stanford now shares second with Texas at 13-over 877, 25 strokes behind top-ranked Oklahoma State.
"It was tough out there early," said Conrad Ray, The Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. "We had a short night with the tornado drill, and it took the guys a little while to get their bearings. We could have played better. My experience is there's always going to be one day you have to weather the storm and I think we just had that day."
Ray had a feeling Sunday's start might be challenging. At 3 a.m. local time, intercoms in the team hotel rooms went off warning of a possible tornado and occupants were advised to shelter in their showers. The tornado missed the area and an all-clear signal came about 30 minutes later.
Ray also decided to make a lineup change, permitted 30 minutes prior to tee off. He subbed sophomore Nate Menton for junior David Snyder after the latter struggled the first two rounds.
The move paid off early, as Menon parred the first four holes in the 4:50 a.m. (PT) leadoff spot. After a front nine 41, he fought back to shoot 38 on the tougher back side and finished with a 79.
Freshman Daulet Tulebayev had a rougher start. He went 5-over the first four holes and shot 44 on the opening side. Tuleubayev battled back gamely with four birdies to shoot 2-under 34 on the second nine and his score counted.
The early wakeup didn't bother senior Isaiah Salinda. He birdied three-of-his-first six holes and just missed two other good chances before turning in 3-under 33 and earned a share of the individual lead at 7-under.
Senior Isaiah Salinda crushes drive at No. 5.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/choPIh7QAG
— Stanford Men's Golf (@StanfordMGolf) May 26, 2019
After avoiding a big mistakes the first two days, Salinda made two double bogeys on the back nine and finished with a 74. He is tied for fifth at 2-under 214.
"I made a few bad swings, but that's going to happen on this golf course," he said.
Junior Henry Shimp shot a 1-under 35 on the back nine and garnered several quality birdie opportunities. He wound up with a 73 and is tied for eighth at 1-under 215.
"Henry is hitting it great and really manages himself well," said Ray. "He could have made a few more putts. Give coach (Matt) Bortis credit for walking with him today."
Senior Brandon Wu added a 74. He recorded two birdies on the nine to shoot 36 and is tied for 34th at 6-over 222.
Only two of the 30 teams broke par Sunday. Oklahoma State shot 2-under and Vanderbilt was 1-under.
Following play, the field was trimmed to 15 teams for Monday's final round of stroke play, when the individual champion will be decided. The top eight teams advance to the match play quarterfinals on Tuesday morning.
"One step at a time," Ray said. "Tomorrow is a new day and I think our guys will be ready for it."
Stanford will play with Oklahoma State and Texas, with the first group starting at 10:28 a.m. PT. Golf Channel will provide live coverage from 2-6 p.m. PT.
It took a team score of 36-over 900 to finish in the top-15. USC earned the final berth while Cal finished one stroke better.
Follow live scoring at GoStanford.com.