Martin Sampedro Keeps Streak Alive

PHOENIX — In the final round of the PING/ASU Invitational, the top-ranked Stanford Cardinal knew it had competition atop the leaderboard. A lot of teams entered the day clustered around the lead, and a few of those teams broke away from the rest of the field. Stanford was steady all day, but did not have enough firepower to overtake Northwestern for the win, ultimately finishing in fifth overall a 5-under for the tournament.
 
The best round of the day came courtesy of Megha Ganne, who got herself into contention for the win by the midway point in the round. She entered the day 1-over and tied for 30th overall, but fired off five birdies during her first 15 holes of the final round to push herself back into the top-10. Ganne ended the day with a 3-under 69, her fifth round in the 60s this season, but her first since The Stephens Cup in October.
 
Keeping her top-10 streak alive was Paula Martin Sampedro, who finished tied for fourth at the PING/ASU Invitational. The freshman has finished in the top-10 in every event during her first season on The Farm, and she did so by finishing with a 2-under 70 in the final round. She was two under on the front nine, and added two more birdies on the back nine to cap off her day. Martin Sampedro did not go over par during the entire tournament, giving her 16 of 18 rounds this season at par or better.
 
Kelly Xu got off to a rough start and then had one of the best back nines of anyone in the field. She was 3-over on the front nine but rebounded quickly with a pair of birdies on holes 10 and 12. Xu steadied herself and was able to finish the round with a 1-over 73, which put her just outside the top-20 overall.
 
On the individual side, Rachel Heck delivered another solid round to bounce back nicely from struggles during Thursday's opening round. While Heck did not record a birdie all day, she did eagle on the ninth hole, one of just 10 eagles in the field. She ended her day with a 1-under 71, going 3-under over her final 36 holes of golf.
 
Northwestern claimed the team championship by going 11-under for the tournament, capping it off with a 4-under 284 in the final round. Stanford finished fourth overall among Pac-12 schools, trailing California, UCLA, and Arizona State.
 
A majority of the Cardinal will now head to Augusta for the annual Augusta National Women's Amateur, which begins on April 3. Stanford will feature five active and four future Cardinal on the greens of Augusta, the most in the field. As a team, Stanford will also prepare for the Pac-12 Championships, which take place on April 21-23.
 

PING/ASU Invitational (Papago Golf Club, par 72)