PHOENIX, Ariz. – After one round of the 2023 Pac-12 Championships, Rose Zhang owns a one-stroke lead and No. 1 Stanford women's golf sits in third at Papago Golf Course. The Cardinal fired a 1-under 287 on Monday and trails leader USC by eight shots.
Only nine strokes separate first from fifth, and just 18 shots separate first from last in a bunched field with 36 holes left to play.
"Rose showed an incredible amount of patience and discipline out there today," Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf Anne Walker said. "She controlled her distances well to put herself in positions to make putts. She made some clutch par saves and that allowed her to post a clean score card.
"As a team, we played better than our score reflects today. The plan doesn't have to change tomorrow, just hit repeat and hope we can drop a few more putts."
Zhang fired a 5-under 67, carding five birdies and 13 pars on the day. She shot a 1-under 35 on the front nine and a 4-under 32 on the back. She owns a one-shot leader of Carolina Melgrati (Arizona) and Malia Nam (USC).
"I'm super thankful to be out here with my teammates – it's postseason time," Zhang said following the round. "I stayed patient out there. I had a couple of par putts that I made to help my momentum. With the winds picking up this afternoon, it was important to stay patient and keep hitting good shots, even if the results weren't following. Tomorrow will be the same strategy – stay prepared, know the winds are going to be changing and predict the unpredictable."
Zhang was among the field's best in both Par-4 (-2) and Par-5 (-3) scoring on Monday, while playing the four Par 3s at even par. Her five birdies were third-best in the field, but she added 13 pars for a clean card.
Angelina Ye finished with an even-par 72 on Monday, tallying birdies on two of the final three holes. Megha Ganne led the field with 16 pars on the round, but a triple-bogey on No. 14 led to a 2-over 74. Ganne and fellow freshman, Kelly Xu, both carded 74s and were counting scorers for the Cardinal during the opening 18 holes.
Stanford will begin Tuesday's second round off No. 1 at 8:50 a.m.
Pac-12 Championships (Papagos Golf Club, par 72)
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Stanford | 287 (-1) | -- | -- | 287 (-1) |
| 1. Rose Zhang | 67 (-5) | -- | -- | 67 (-5) |
| T16. Angelina Ye | 72 (E) | -- | -- | 72 (E) |
| T31. Megha Ganne | 74 (+2) | -- | -- | 74 (+2) |
| T31. Kelly Xu | 74 (+2) | -- | -- | 74 (+2) |
| T46. Sadie Englemann | 76 (+4) | -- | -- | 76 (+4) |