Two Rounds Down in Texas, Millbrae – Stanford Cardinal

FORT WORTH, Texas — Top-ranked Stanford women’s golf is split up this week, with five golfing at the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, and two individuals golfing at the Silicon Valley Showcase in Millbrae. In Texas, Stanford is in a loaded field of NCAA contenders, making it the most difficult tournament of the season. For the first time during the 2024-25 season, the Cardinal find themselves not leading a tournament at the end of the day. Still, Stanford is just three strokes back of the lead heading into the final round on Tuesday.

This was the first time all season Stanford played a tournament on a par-70 course, which is how Colonial Country Club played with only two par-5s. Scores were much higher in relation to par than normal, which at a glance created some surprising scores for the top teams in the country.

In a field that contains 11 teams ranked in the top 25 of the most recent Clippd poll, No. 3 Oregon leads the field at 1-under as a team through two rounds of golf. No. 9 Wake Forest is one stroke back in second while top-ranked Stanford is 2-over as a group. No other team is within striking distance of those three, with No. 19 Auburn next closest in fourth at 9-over.

Continuing on a strong spring season, Meja Örtengren continued to shine during the first two rounds in Texas. The freshman finished with a 1-under 69 in the opening round thanks to five birdies during the round, including three on the front nine. She was even better in the second round, firing off a 3-under 67. It was nearly a clean second round for Örtengren, who once again had five birdies compared to just two bogeys. It was her second-best round of the season, with her 10-under 62 in the second round of the San Diego State Classic standing as the only better round.

The biggest riser during the second round was Paula Martín Sampedro, who climbed up 12 spots into the top 15 after posting a 1-under 69 in the second round. She caught fire in the middle of her second round, with three birdies in a seven-hole span that moved her up the leaderboard quickly. She finished with a 72-69-141 to put herself in contention to get into the top 10 before the end of the tournament. Her 69 in the second round is also the 15^th round in the 60s in her collegiate career.

Kelly Xu was at one point in contention for the lead during the first round, but her scores fell off a bit as the day went on. She had a clean front nine with a pair of birdies…