U.S. Four-Ball: Stanford sophomores medal at inaugural event
5/3/2015 | by Conner Penfold of AmateurGolf.com
see also: View results for U.S. Four-Ball, Desert Mountain Golf Club - Cochise Course
College roommates Maverick McNealy and Viraat Badhwar earn medalist honors at The Olympic Club
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Maverick McNealy and Viraat Badhwar will be difficult to beat in the match play portion of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. The Stanford teammates, both sophomores, claimed medalist honors at the tournament's inaugural event, posting 10-under par 130, including a stellar 66 on Sunday at the Lake Course.
Both are fresh off a Pac-12 Championship win in Pullman, Wash. where McNealy set multiple school and conference records. But this weekend, they were back in the Bay Area playing The Olympic Club as a team in best-ball format.
"I think we've both seen our golf games way too much," Badhwar said after Saturday's round. "We practice together. We do putting competitions together and off the golf course we have the same classes and the same set of friends and we are the same year in school. We understand each other’s games and how to help each other and when to pick each other up."
RELATED: Cameron Hooper plays U.S. Four-Ball alone as partner suffers freak accident
The pair led after round one, carding 64 on the Ocean Course despite an opening-hole bogey. McNealy, of Portola Valley, Calif. rolled in birdie putts on 3 and 4 while Badhwar, an Australian originally born in India, knocked in a bird on 5 to get the Stanford pair rolling. They capped off the round with birdies on 17 and 18, including a bunker hole-out from the recent Pac-12 individual medalist.
Sunday's round got off to a sluggish start, in four-ball standards, at least. Pars were made on the first nine holes before the Cardinal teammates picked up the pace on the tough back nine of the Lake Course. The first birdie of the day came at the par-four 10th, followed by another at 12, which was offset by a bogey at 14. But the two came down the stretch with ferocity, cashing in on three straight birdies to close out the round and grab the top-seed by two shots.
"Every time you look at a list of champions you always fall on the first one first," said McNealy of winning the medal. "To have our names on top would be awesome. There's always a first for everything and it's cool to be part of the first one."
The No. 2 seed will go to top-ranked junior golfers Sam Burns of Shreveport, La. and Austin Connelly of Canada, who carded back-to-back 66s. The future SEC rivals held the clubhouse lead briefly before McNealy and Badhwar began their back-nine birdie barrage.
Burns, the 2014 Junior PGA winner, will attend LSU this fall while Connelly, a dual citizen of both Canada and the United States and reigning Jones Cup champion, is headed to Arkansas.
Another team that held possession of the top-seed at the conclusion of their round were former USC teammates Jordan Nasser and Taylor Wood. The Southern California mid-amateurs posted the lowest score of Saturday's Lake Course rounds, a 65, before shooting 68 at the easier Ocean Course on Sunday.
Prevailing winds picked up on Sunday, causing scores to creep up by about half a stroke. The cut fell at one-under par, with eight teams finishing in a tie for 30th place at 139. Those eight teams will tee off on the Ocean Course Monday morning at 7 a.m. to determine the remaining three spots for the match play bracket.
At 9 a.m. on the Lake Course, match play will begin, with the semifinal and final matches taking place Wednesday, May 6.
About the U.S. Four-Ball
The U.S. Amateur Four-Ball championship was played for the first time in 2015 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif. The event has no age restriction, however, it is only open to individual players with a Handicap Index of 2.4 or lower. It is o...
Most Popular Articles
2025 PGA TOUR Q-School Guide: Sites, Scores, and Who Advanced
Dec 5, 2025Second Stage is complete and Final Stage awaits at Sawgrass — follow every Q-School leaderboard and the players still chasing
2025 LPGA TOUR Q-Series: Final Qualifying Stage FINAL SCORING
Dec 8, 2025Helen Briem earns medalist honors, 31 players headed to the LPGA next year
2025 PGA TOUR Q-School Final Stage: Ewart Leads Five New TOUR Card Winners
Dec 14, 2025A.J. Ewart topped Final Stage at TPC Sawgrass, leading five players who secured PGA TOUR membership for 2026.
Australian Open at Royal Melbourne: Preview, amateur bios, and how to watch
Nov 30, 2025Rory McIlroy headlines one of the championship's top fields in years - at least four amateurs will have their chance at glory
Inside Gil Hanse’s Restoration of Baltusrol’s Upper Course: A Return to Tillinghast’s
Dec 11, 2025Renowned architect Gil Hanse reveals how he brought Baltusrol’s Upper Course back to life by honoring A.W. Tillinghast’s original