OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — A late surge on the front nine helped propel the Stanford men’s golf team back into contention during the second round of the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational on Saturday as the Cardinal jumped three places overall after 36 holes. Stanford currently sits in a four-way tie for ninth at 11-over while sitting just five shots back from sixth.
Leading the charge for the Cardinal, TK Chantananuwat rattled off an 2-under, 68 for the afternoon, earning three of his five birdies on the day along the front nine. Having hit the turn at even-par, Chantananuwat was one of three Cardinal to birdie hole one before nabbing two more on holes five and seven to turn in his round score of 68. Chantananuwat currently sits tied for 18th at even-par.
Jay Leng also shot strong for the Cardinal, turning in a nearly identical card to his sophomore counterpart in Chantananuwat with a 2-under, 68. Leng, who hit the turn at even-par following a bogey on hole 18, earned birdies on holes one and five to finish the day at 2-under and bring his two round total to 3-over. Leng also sits inside the top-40 in a tie for 35th.
Keeping pace along the leaderboard is freshman Edan Cui who flipped his scorecard from the back nine to the front nine to finish the round at even-par. Battling through two bogeys on his first five holes of the afternoon, Cui nabbed a birdie on hole one before a clinical birdie on a par-four hole nine to finish the day at even-par. Cui sits tied for 23rd overall at 1-over through two rounds.
Elsewhere on the course, Nathan Wang did well to battle a tough ending to the front nine before trouble ensued on the latter half of the front nine. Wang, who also birdied hole one, bogeyed on holes 2 and six while a double-bogey on hole seven forced him into a 4-over, 74 for the afternoon as he sits tied for 62nd at 8-over through two rounds. Dean Greyserman also did well to combat a tough back nine, finishing the day at 8-over with his lone birdie coming on hole eight. Greyserman slots in a tie for 72nd heading into the final round on Sunday.
Stanford is back in action for the final round of the Fighting Illini Invitational on Sunday, September 21, with all five Cardinal hitting the links for a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.