Top Seed Again

CARLSBAD, Calif. — For the fourth consecutive year, Stanford women's golf heads into the match play portion of the NCAA Championships as the top overall seed. The Cardinal had to battle tough greens and playing conditions that led to scores being over par all afternoon, but Stanford emerged from a tie with LSU to secure the top seed berth. Stanford lands two in the top-10 individually, joining LSU as the only other team to do so.
 
Under the old format of national championship play, Stanford would have just wrapped up its fourth consecutive national championship. However, with the switch to match play in 2015, the Cardinal have been the top seed heading into match play five times, including 2024. Twice prior, Stanford has turned that top seed into a national championship (2015, 2022). Stanford remains the only program in the country, men or women, to reach match play in every season since 2015.
 
"When I look back over the last decade and the last four years, we have been fortunate to have some of the world's best players," said Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf. "When you put those players on a stage like this, they love it and they usually show up. I feel lucky as a coach to have that experience year after year with these players at Stanford."
 
Finishing in third place overall is Paula Martin Sampedro, who joins rare air in Stanford history with her top-three finish. The freshman from Spain capped off a stellar series of stroke play with a 2-under 70, finishing at 6-under over the course of the week. She joins Rose Zhang (2023) and Lauren Kim (2014) as the only Stanford golfers to post four rounds at par or better over the course of the NCAA Championship. Her finish also places her above all other freshmen competing in the championship.
 
Joining Martin Sampedro in the top-10 is Megha Ganne, who was able to stay steady enough throughout the day to finish at 2-over 74 for the round, and right at par for the four rounds of stroke play. A big moment for Ganne was hitting a birdie on 14 right before Martin Sampedro did, her lone birdie of the round. With a top-10 finish at the NCAA Championship, Ganne helped give Stanford two golfers in the top-10 for the third time in the last four seasons.
 
Despite rougher finishes to stroke play for the likes of Rachel Heck (tied for 28th), Kelly Xu (tied for 39th), and Sadie Englemann (tied for 45th), Stanford was still the only team in the field to land all five of its golfers inside the top-45. The next closest team was UCLA, with all five inside the top-50.
 
The eight advancing teams, in order of seed, are as follows: Stanford, LSU, Texas A&M, USC, Clemson, UCLA, Oregon, and Auburn.
 
Stanford tees off at 7:40 AM against Auburn on the first tee box. The Cardinal will roll out Sadie Englemann, Rachel Heck, Kelly Xu, Megha Ganne, and Paula Martin Sampedro in that order against the Tigers. Should Stanford beat Auburn, it would face the winner of USC and Clemson in the semifinals at 2:05 PM. The Cardinal lost to the Trojans in the semifinals last year.
 

NCAA Championship (Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, par 72)