Until Tuesday, it had been more than six years since the Stanford women's golf team finished outside the top five in a tournament. Although the field was only six, the Cardinal placed last at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Fields Ranch East in Frisco, Texas.
The last time Stanford finished outside of the top five? The 2020 Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, when it placed seventh.
Golfweek's preseason No. 1 team features the top-two players and three of the top six in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, but depth is where the Cardinal had the biggest question mark coming into the season. World No. 6 Meja Ortengren placed T-3, but the next highest Stanford player on the individual leaderboard was Andrea Revuelta at T-24.
Stanford finished 33 shots
behind Wake Forest, which will face Texas in match play on Wednesday to determine the winner of the Stephens Cup. Stanford and Florida State, which finished six shots ahead of the Cardinal, are heading home early.
How shocking was the finish? Stanford had lost to only five teams in stroke play the last two seasons combined. It's the first time in the Anne Walker era that Stanford has finished last at a stroke-play event.
The Cardinal have won stroke play at NCAAs the past six years, reached the match-play final in four of those and won three national championships, but its 2026-27 season begins with what will be one of the more surprising results of the season.
It's only one tournament, and it was a field of only six teams. But to those who follow college golf, it's a surprising result nonetheless. At least for the Cardinal, it's one you'd rather happen now instead of spring when it really counts.
Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: No. 1 Stanford women open season with stunning last-place result at PGA Frisco
