VALENCIA, Calif. — Top-ranked Stanford women’s golf returned to action on Monday with the first two rounds of the Bruin Wave Invitational at the Valencia Country Club. Stanford wrapped up the opening day with a commanding lead over the tournament hosts, but it’s the race atop the individual leaderboard that is much tighter.
The Cardinal captured the lead around the midway point of the first round and never looked back. Through two rounds, Stanford is at 15-under as a team, holding an eight-stroke lead over co-host UCLA. The Bruins own the best team round of the tournament at 15-under (Round 2), but struggled in the opening round, going 8-over. The other co-host, Pepperdine, is in third at 1-under.
Stanford has already had two individuals win their third collegiate tournament this season in Megha Ganne and Andrea Revuelta. Paula Martín Sampedro is trying to become the third to do so, and she finds herself tied for the lead through 36 holes at 7-under. Both of her rounds were in the 60s, including a 4-under 68 in the opening round to put her atop the leaderboard. In that opening round, she posted six birdies, including three in a row from holes 3-5, which were on her back nine. She had six more in round two, including another stretch of three in a row, this time from holes 11-13.
Martín Sampedro is tied with Kacey Ly of UCLA for the lead. Ly enters the final round with a lot of momentum after shooting a 5-under 67 to close out play on Monday.
Multiple Cardinal teammates are in pursuit of her, including Stanford’s most recent winner in Revuelta. She was nearly clean during her opening round, posting a 3-under 69 to finish just one stroke back of Martín Sampedro for the lead, and finished strong with two birdies on her final four holes. Round two was a bit more even (1-under 71), but Revuelta was hot at the turn, with three-straight birdies on 17-18 and then again on the first green. She is in sole possession of third place at 4-under.
Despite a slower start, Meja Örtengren has joined the party, in a tie for fourth at 3-under through two rounds. She was even at par during her opening round, with two birdies and two bogeys to make the round. Örtengren made her ground in the afternoon portion, despite still being at par on her front nine with nine pars. Her back nine was strong, posting four birdies and one bogey, including two birdies over her final three holes, to shoot a 3-under 69 and move into the top five.
Another Cardinal in the top 10 is Kelly Xu. The lone senior in the field for Stanford shot a 72 in the opening round, and then came out of the break hot for the second round, with four birdies on the front nine, including three in the first six holes. She finished with a 1-under 71 and sits in a tie for ninth.
The final round of the Bruin Wave Invitational takes place on Tuesday morning, with teams beginning to tee off at 7:30 a.m. Stanford will not tee off as a team until 9:00 a.m. and will be paired with golfers from UCLA and Pepperdine.
Bruin Wave Invitational (Valencia Country Club, par 72)
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Stanford | 281 (-7) | 280 (-8) | -- | 561 (-15) |
| T1. Paula Martín Sampedro | 68 (-4) | 69 (-3) | -- | 137 (-7) |
| 3. Andrea Revuelta | 69 (-3) | 71 (-1) | -- | 140 (-4) |
| T4. Meja Örtengren | 72 (E) | 69 (-3) | -- | 141 (-3) |
| T9. Kelly Xu | 72 (E) | 71 (-1) | -- | 143 (-1) |
| T18. Anna Song | 73 (+1) | 73 (+1) | -- | 146 (+2) |
| T42. Leigh Chien | 76 (+4) | 78 (+6) | -- | 154 (+10) |
| T62. Kaila Elsayegh | 80 (+8) | 80 (+8) | -- | 160 (+16) |