VALENCIA, Calif. — The race for the Bruin Wave Invitational championship grew intense on Tuesday afternoon, with Stanford Cardinal all over the leaderboard. Three different players from the top-ranked team in the country had a shot to win before one pulled ahead to take the individual title, while Stanford won its fourth-straight overall stroke-play tournament.
Stanford’s lead was never threatened on Tuesday. The lead grew to 22 strokes by the final putt, with Stanford (-21) clearing hosts Pepperdine (+1) and UCLA (+2). Stanford set the Bruin Wave Invitational team scoring record of 843.
The race for the finish was wild between three Cardinal, who all entered the final three holes separated by just one stroke. Paula Martín Sampedro held a one-stroke lead over Andrea Revuelta and Meja Örtengren, after Örtengren joined her teammates thanks to two early birdies on the back nine. Both Revuelta and Örtengren bogeyed 16, then Örtengren bogeyed 17, which put her out of the race. Revuelta then eagled the 477-yard, par-5 18th hole to create a tie with Martín Sampedro for the win.
Needing to birdie 18 to win the tournament outright, Martín Sampedro put herself in great position on the green for a birdie putt, which she sank to win the tournament with a 7-under 209 and a 72 in the final round. Both of Martín Sampedro’s previous wins were shared, which made Tuesday’s win even sweeter.
The junior from Spain is Stanford’s fourth different individual winner this season, the second year in a row that Stanford has had four individual winners in its lineup. She is now the tenth Cardinal all-time to win at least three collegiate tournaments and joins teammates Megha Ganne and Revuelta as current Cardinal with three.
Finishing in outright second place was Revuelta, who ended the week at 6-under and closed out the day with a 2-under 70. Örtengren slipped down into a tie for sixth, finishing at 3-under across three rounds.
Kelly Xu made a great charge late in the day to pull herself near the top of the leaderboard, eventually settling for a tie for fourth overall. She was 1-over through her first seven holes before she ripped off four birdies over the final 11, finishing the round with a 3-under 69, her best of the week and the 26th of her collegiate career. She wound up finishing just two strokes behind the leaders, posting a 212 (-4) across three rounds.
Stanford is in action on Monday, March 2, at the annual Battle of the Bay match play event against San Jose State. This year’s duel takes place at Los Altos Golf & Country Club. Stanford is 2-1 all-time against the Spartans in the Battle of the Bay.
Bruin Wave Invitational (Valencia Country Club, par 72)
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Stanford | 281 (-7) | 280 (-8) | 282 (-6) | 843 (-21) |
| 1. Paula Martín Sampedro | 68 (-4) | 69 (-3) | 72 (E) | 209 (-7) |
| 2. Andrea Revuelta | 69 (-3) | 71 (-1) | 70 (-2) | 210 (-6) |
| T4. Kelly Xu | 72 (E) | 71 (-1) | 69 (-3) | 212 (-4) |
| T6. Meja Örtengren | 72 (E) | 69 (-3) | 72 (E) | 213 (-3) |
| T14. Anna Song | 73 (+1) | 73 (+1) | 71 (-1) | 217 (+1) |
| T54. Leigh Chien | 76 (+4) | 78 (+6) | 82 (+10) | 236 (+20) |
| T54. Kaila Elsayegh | 80 (+8) | 80 (+8) | 76 (+4) | 236 (+20) |