LOS CABOS, Mexico — Five birdies catapulted Jay Leng into the top 10 as the Stanford men’s golf team wrapped up the first round of competition at the Cabo Collegiate on Sunday. The Cardinal currently sits in a tie for fourth after the first day at 4-over as a program.
Leng, who started the morning on hole 10 alongside Nathan Wang, rattled off consecutive birdies to open the day before grabbing his third of the afternoon on a par-5 hole 16 for a remarkable start to the round. Following a bogey on hole 18, Leng followed up with birdies on holes three and five to take a 4-under card heading into the stretch. However, a late hiccup on hole nine kept Leng from securing a 4-under card as Leng turned a double-bogey to complete the afternoon in a tie for sixth overall at 2-under.
Following Leng was TK Chantananuwat and Ethan Gao who both placed in the top 20 through 18 holes, rattling off cards of 1-over 72. Chantananuwat followed up a 2-over first nine holes with a string of three birdies after the turn to recalibrate at even heading into the final few holes, ultimately finishing at 1-over. Gao, who entered the final nine holes at even-par, jockeyed with the course with a trio of birdies before ending the afternoon with his card of 72.
Nathan Wang had a tough outing along the first nine, entering the turn at 2-over. However, Wang built some momentum heading into round two with a birdie on his final hole of the afternoon before turning in a card of 4-over, 75. Kush Arora was also in the mix early, but a string of bogeys inflated the sophomore’s card heading into the final nine of the afternoon. Arora was able to grab a bright spot during the latter part of the round with an eagle on a par-3 hole four before turning in a card of 9-over. Independently, Sean-Karl Dobson sits in sole possession of 69th, shooting an 8-over 79.
Stanford is back in action tomorrow morning for round two from the Cabo Collegiate, teeing off from holes 1-4 as part of an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.