Patrick Rodgers took advantage of his only chance to make a good first impression. The freshman golfer shot a final round 2-under 68 Sunday to win individual honors at the Fighting Illini Invitational on the Olympic Fields Country Club course.
No. 12 Stanford won the team title with a three-day total of 846, 16 strokes better than co-second place finishers No. 9 Auburn and No. 2 Oklahoma State.
Rodgers, who hails from Avon, Indiana, shot a three-day total of 4-under 206, edging Texas’ Dylan Frittelli, who finished at 209 after moving ahead of a pair of Stanford golfers.
Junior Andrew Yun finished third with a tournament score of 211 and sophomore Cameron Wilson was fourth with a 212.
Rodgers played steadily throughout the tournament, recording eight birdies and four bogeys. He stayed away from a bogey on the final day.
“We could sense that Patrick was motivated to play well and feeling good about his game,” Stanford coach Conrad Ray said. “He’s really excited and he’s looking forward to getting to school and settling down a bit after a busy summer.”
Yun opened his final round with a double bogey before steadying himself and finishing strong.
“This was one of the largest winning margins in my career,” said Ray. “It takes five guys to win and all the guys played well. Steve Kearney had a solid round, Andrew Yun hung in there. It was a great team win.”
Wilson held the lead entering the final round, carrying a 3-under into Sunday. He recorded seven bogeys, but managed to stay in the top five by not compounding his errors.
Facing difficult hole locations and windy weather, the Cardinal set a tournament record through two rounds at 1-under-par.
The Cardinal finished ninth at the event last year, with Yun’s 11th-place finish the top individual effort.
“It’s a world-class course and the greens are fast and pretty difficult,” Ray said. “It’s a beautiful time of year in Chicago and the field is one of the strongest we’ll see all year.”
Rodgers joined the top four qualifiers directly from Aberdeen, Scotland, where he competed in the Walker Cup. Earlier this season he won the Porter Cup and has won the Western Junior and the Indiana high school state championship.
The Cardinal compete at The Prestige at GA West in La Quinta beginning Oct. 9.
Women’s soccer
Camille Levin and Marjani Hing-Glover scored first-half goals six minutes apart to give No. 1 Stanford a 2-0 victory over No. 19 Santa Clara in women’s soccer action at Buck Shaw Stadium on Sunday night.
Stanford (8-0-1) concluded nonconference play with its third consecutive shutout, and sixth consecutive victory over Santa Clara (3-1-4) in a South Bay matchup of unbeaten teams played before a crowd of 2,875.
Levin, who started at outside back, scored her third goal of the season by converting the end of a give-and-go with forward Sydney Payne in the 30th minute.
Hing-Glover then came off the bench to score her second of the season, with a first-time shot off a crossing pass.
Goalkeeper Emily Oliver earned her third shutout of the season — she made four saves — and Stanford earned its sixth shutout as a team. Oliver, a sophomore, now has 13 shutouts in her collegiate career, moving her into a tie for seventh on Stanford’s all-time list.
The Cardinal opens Pac-12 play on Saturday, hosting Arizona at 7 p.m.
Men’s water polo
Fourth-ranked Stanford dropped a 12-5 decision to top-ranked USC in the semifinals of the NorCal Invitational in Stockton on Sunday.
The Cardinal (3-2) lost to California, 8-7, in the third place contest.
USC beat UCLA, 10-8, for the title.
Jacob Smith scored four times for the Cardinal Sunday, including a hat trick against California.
Freshman Alex Bowen continued his solid debut weekend with two goals while senior Peter Sefton notched a goal in each contest.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports