Stanford's Maverick McNealy
(Pac-12 Photo)
PALO ALTO, CA (March 31, 2017) -- On a breezy Friday host Stanford struggled a bit but they continue to lead The Goodwin at Stanford Golf Course, even if it is by the slimmest of margins over newly minted
No. 1 USC.
"It's good for us to be in a position to have a great final round and make a run at the trophy," said Stanford head coach Conrad Ray. "USC is a very talented team and had an incredible round today. The course and conditions will be prime for scoring tomorrow, and we feel good about our chances."
14th-ranked Stanford is 4-over and currently has three players inside the top-10 so far this week and they are being led by their star Maverick McNealy who is in position to set the program mark for career individual wins. McNealy currently sits at 11 career wins and is tied with Tiger Woods and Patrick Rodgers on the Cardinal all-time wins list.
The senior is currently tied for second place and after rounds of 67-71 he is 2-under and two shots off the medalist pace set BYU's Rhett Rasmussen.
In the second round McNealy could never truly get it going as he carded four bogeys and three birdies. Teeing off on No. 10, McNealy failed to birdie during his first nine and he turned in 3-over 38 before finding a bit of a grove late with three birdies and just one bogey throughout his second nine.
Also in the top-10 for Stanford are Franklin Huang (T9; +1) and Brandon Wu (T9; +1).
Second place USC is currently 5-over and has been led through two rounds by Sean Crocker (6th; -1) and Justin Suh (T7; E).
Individual leader Rhett Rasmussen, 4-under overall, moved to the top of the leaderboard with a tournament best 6-under 64. Following a 2-over 72 in round one, Rasmussen got rolling early with a birdie on No. 1, the first of his seven on the day against just one bogey.
Rasmussen saved some of his best golf for the back nine where he played bogey-free 4-under 31 golf.
Joining McNealy in second place at 2-under are first round leader Corey Pereira (Washington), Harry Hall (UNLV) and Ryan Gronlund (Oregon).
Behind Stanford and USC in the team standings are No. 17 UNLV (+13) in third, Washington (+14) in fourth and No. 5 Oregon (+17) in fifth.
-Stanford Athletics contributed to this story
ABOUT THE The Goodwin
54 hole men's college tournament hosted by
Stanford University. Team (best four scores out of
five
players each round) and individual competitions.
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