Zhang Ties 36-Hole Record

PHOENIX, Ariz. – The No. 1 amateur in the world is 18 holes away from adding Pac-12 champion to her impressive resume, as Rose Zhang leads the 2023 Pac-12 Championships by four strokes with one round to play at Papago Golf Club. As a team, the Cardinal sits in third at 5-under, just three shots behind co-leaders Arizona and USC.
 
Zhang tied the Pac-12 Championships 36-hole scoring record with a 9-under 135 through the first two rounds, matching Stanford's Mhairi McKay (1997) and USC's Gabriella Then (2016).
 
A win for Zhang would be the 10th of her career in just 18 events, surpassing Andrea Lee for the program record for career wins. Tiger Woods, Maverick McNealy and Patrick Rodgers each won 11 times in their careers on the men's side.
 
"It's going to take every single bit of mental effort to prepare for tomorrow," Zhang said following Tuesday's round. "It's important to stay steady. This course is very difficult when the wind picks up. It's important to focus on every shot, understand what the greens will do and stick to my game plan."
 
The Cardinal's 4-under 284 was the best round of the day by two shots. Stanford, who began the day eight shots off the lead, is now just three strokes back with its 5-under 571 for the tournament.
 
"I'm pleased with the way we've performed," Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf Anne Walker said Tuesday. "I'm loving the contributions from our freshman – Kelly Xu and Megha Ganne – in their first postseason. I'm also really proud of Angelina Ye, who has been out of competition for a year and a half. Rose is Rose and we are so fortunate she's on our team.
 
"I think we have to limit mistakes tomorrow to give ourselves a chance. And then we need some putts to fall. I believe we have it in us, but it's going to take a lot to overcome Arizona and USC. (Papago) has been a good challenge and a nice preview for (Grayhawk) later on in the postseason. It's giving us a good preview of how the ball performs in desert conditions."
 
Zhang shot a 2-under 34 on the front nine Tuesday, and moved to 3-under following a birdie on No. 11. But, uncharacteristically, she registered back-to-back bogeys – her first two of the tournament – on No. 13 and 14 to fall back to 6-under for the tournament and a tie for first.
 
However, Zhang birdied No. 15, 17 and 18, almost dunking her approach on the 18th, to tie the 36-hole record and carry a four-shot lead with her into Wednesday's final round.  
 
 
Three Cardinal golfers – Xu (three strokes), Ganne (one stroke) and Sadie Englemann (four strokes) – improved from Monday's round to Tuesday's round.
 
Stanford will once again play with Oregon on Wednesday and begin its final round at 8:20 a.m. off the first tee. Arizona and USC will follow the Cardinal and tee off beginning at 9:10 a.m.

 

Pac-12 Championships (Papagos Golf Club, par 72)