Ganne Jumps to the Front – Stanford Cardinal

STANFORD, Calif. — The opening round of the annual Stanford Intercollegiate, hosted by Dr. Condoleezza Rice, went according to plan for the third-ranked Cardinal. Using the home course to its advantage, Stanford pulled ahead early and never looked back, owning a seven-stroke lead over the field through the first 18 holes.

The defending champions of the event, USC, are the only ones close enough to Stanford through one round. The Trojans are 4-under after the first day of competition, still trailing Stanford’s 11-under as a team by seven. The Cardinal was elite all afternoon long, leading the field in birdies (21) and being the only team to finish at par or better on par-4s.

The class of the field after one round is Megha Ganne, who put up one of the best rounds of her collegiate career. She fired off seven birdies and posted a 5-under 66, tying the lowest round score of her career (first round of the 2023 Carmel Cup). Starting on the back nine, Ganne birdied on three of her first four holes and did so again when she reached the front nine. She was as low as 7-under at one point before cooling off late in the round, but Ganne maintains a two-stroke lead at the conclusion of the day.

Chasing Ganne is Paula Martin Sampedro, who caught fire late in the day to climb up the leaderboard. The only blemish on her scorecard came on her final hole, but her four-birdie round was good enough for a 3-under 68. Three of her birdies came on holes 6-8 and that shot her up several spots. Martin Sampedro won her first collegiate tournament in the first tournament of the year for the Cardinal and is now tied for second heading into Saturday.

Another veteran for Stanford showed out in the opening round. Kelly Xu is third on the team and tied for seventh with a 2-under 69 on Friday and she got there with remarkable consistency as well. Her first 10 holes were bogey-free as she kept herself out of trouble with a bevy of great looks on the green. Xu was the highest-placing Cardinal in last year’s Intercollegiate, finishing tied for third.

Among Friday results, freshman Nora Sundberg is tied for seventh after posting a 2-under 69 in the first round. Competing as an individual, Sundberg had just one bogey on the round in her first sub-70 round as a Cardinal. Meja Ortengren is inside the top-20, sitting in a tie for 15^th after shooting a 1-under 70. She was great at the turn, starting the front nine with birdies on the first and third holes.

Stanford will have the early…