Stanford is pulling away. The top-ranked Cardinal fired a 9-under third round — the low team round of the day — to reach 21 under and stretch their lead at the 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship to five shots over Southern California. Sunday’s round also closed the stroke-play cut at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California: the field has been trimmed to 15 teams for Monday’s final round, with three highly ranked programs among the casualties. One piece of business remains unfinished — a three-player playoff for the final individual spot, suspended by darkness, resumes at dawn.
⏱ Latest — Individual Playoff Suspended
Three players are tied for the final individual spot in Monday’s fourth round. Their playoff reached four holes before darkness halted play Sunday evening; it resumes Monday at 8:00 a.m. PT on Hole 17.
How to Watch Round 4
- Individual playoff
- Resumes Monday, May 25, 8:00 a.m. PT (Hole 17)
- Round 4 first tee
- Monday, May 25, 10:45 a.m. PT (anthem & Salute to Service 10:30 a.m.)
- Live stream
- Babygrandegolf.com, 10:45 a.m.–1:30 p.m. PT (free)
- TV
- GOLF Channel from 2:30 p.m. PT, including the crowning of the individual champion
- Live scoring
- NCAA.com
- Team title decided
- Wednesday, May 27
Round 3 Recap: Stanford Pulls Away
Through 54 holes, Stanford has not posted a single bad round — 6 under, 6 under, 9 under — and Anne Walker’s team enters the championship’s decisive stretch firmly in control. Southern California kept the deficit from growing larger with a 7-under charge of its own, headlined by Catherine Park’s 7-under 65, the low individual round of the day, and sits second at 16 under. Oklahoma State holds third at 10 under. The day’s biggest move belonged to host Texas: an 8-under third round — the Longhorns’ best team round at the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa — vaulted them from eighth into fourth at 6 under.
| Pos | Team | Rank | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford | No. 1 | −21 |
| 2 | Southern California | No. 2 | −16 |
| 3 | Oklahoma State | No. 21 | −10 |
| 4 | Texas | No. 5 | −6 |
| T5 | Iowa State | No. 17 | −3 |
| T5 | Arkansas | No. 7 | −3 |
| T7 | Florida | No. 3 | +2 |
| T7 | Arizona State | No. 23 | +2 |
| T7 | Duke | No. 10 | +2 |
| 10 | Eastern Michigan | No. 27 | +6 |
Team leaderboard after Round 3, top 10 — all 15 advancing teams play Monday. Full standings and live scoring at NCAA.com.
Individual Playoff: Three Players, One Spot
One ticket to Monday’s fourth round is still unclaimed. Three players — Wake Forest’s Macy Pate, LSU’s Taylor Riley and Indiana’s Sheridan Clancy — finished 54 holes tied for the ninth and final individual position, the last spot reserved for a golfer not on an advancing team. With Wake Forest and LSU both missing the team cut, Pate and Riley were each in line to play on individually. Their sudden-death playoff ran four holes before darkness ended Sunday’s play; it resumes Monday at 8:00 a.m. PT on the 17th hole. The winner earns a place in the final round of stroke play and a shot at the individual national title. The other two are done.
The Cut Is Set — What Round 4 Decides
Sunday’s third round doubled as the stroke-play cut, and it claimed some big names. The 30-team field was trimmed to the top 15, and three top-10-ranked programs did not survive: No. 4 Texas A&M finished 22nd, No. 6 Auburn placed 21st, and No. 8 Wake Forest missed by a single position in a tie for 16th. Auburn and Wake Forest had both arrived in Carlsbad as regional champions.
Monday, May 25, is the hinge of the championship. The 15 surviving teams play one more 18-hole round of stroke play that does two things at once: it crowns the 72-hole individual national champion, and it narrows the team race to the eight squads that reach match play. Six teams sit under par; the projected match-play cut runs straight through a three-way logjam at 2 over, where No. 3 Florida, Arizona State and Duke are bunched for the seventh through ninth positions. From there, the national title is settled head-to-head — quarterfinals and semifinals Tuesday, the final Wednesday, May 27.
“Today was the day I wanted and expected. More putts dropped, more shots were closer — but this golf course tests your patience.” — USC senior Catherine Park, on her 7-under 65
Stanford Is Built to Finish the Job
A year ago, Stanford walked off the closing holes at La Costa one match short of a national championship. This time the Cardinal arrive at the final round of stroke play well in front, and the milestones are stacking up: Stanford now holds the 54-hole lead for the fifth time in the last six seasons at the NCAA Championship. “The course is set up like a major championship, so it takes a lot of patience,” head coach Anne Walker said. “Our team has done a great job, especially Meja and Megha, of waiting for their opportunities and then really capitalizing on them.” Sophomore Meja Örtengren sits third individually at 9 under and Megha Ganne is fourth at 8 under — two live medal contenders on top of a commanding team margin.
Texas Surges Into Contention on Home Soil
Host Texas saved its best for Sunday. The Longhorns’ 8-under third round — bettered only by Stanford and powered by Selina Liao’s 5-under 67 — lifted Texas into title contention at 6 under. The engine is Farah O’Keefe, who shares the individual lead at 10 under and leads the field in birdies. “We still have a lot of golf to play, and there are a lot of really good teams out there,” head coach Laura Ianello said. “We have to keep focusing on the moment.”
The Individual Race After Round 3
The medal chase is a sprint to Monday’s finish. Texas’s Farah O’Keefe and USC’s Catherine Park share the lead at 10 under — Park rocketing up the board with that 7-under 65 — with Stanford’s Meja Örtengren (−9) and Megha Ganne (−8) in close pursuit. Three of women’s college golf’s top-10-ranked players — O’Keefe, Park and Ganne — sit inside the top five entering the final round. Because the 72-hole individual national champion is crowned at the end of Round 4, one more strong round decides it.
| Pos | Player | Team | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Farah O’Keefe | Texas | −10 |
| T1 | Catherine Park | Southern California | −10 |
| 3 | Meja Örtengren | Stanford | −9 |
| 4 | Megha Ganne | Stanford | −8 |
| T5 | Kyra Van Kan | Tennessee | −7 |
| T5 | Marta Silchenko | Oklahoma State | −7 |
| T5 | Ellie Bushnell | Oklahoma State | −7 |
| T8 | Rianne Malixi | Duke | −6 |
| T8 | Kirstin Angosta | TCU (Ind.) | −6 |
| T8 | Siuue Wu | Florida | −6 |
Individual leaderboard after Round 3, top 10. The 72-hole individual champion is crowned after Monday’s fourth round.
Regional Champions: How They Fared
2026 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship Schedule & Results
| Date | Round |
|---|---|
| May 22 ✓ | Round 1 stroke play — Complete: USC led at 7 under |
| May 23 ✓ | Round 2 stroke play — Complete: Stanford led at 12 under |
| May 24 ✓ | Round 3 stroke play — Complete: Stanford leads at 21 under; field cut to 15 teams |
| May 25 | Round 4 stroke play — 72-hole individual champion crowned; cut to the top eight teams |
| May 26 | Match play — quarterfinals and semifinals |
| May 27 | Match play final — national champion crowned |