For the second straight year, Stanford is the Pac-12 Men’s Golf champion.

Led by sophomore Maverick McNealy, every Stanford golfer carded a score better than 2-over par in the final round. The Cardinal overcame a 9-stroke deficit heading into yesterday’s to claim the title by 14 strokes. At a combined 4-under for the tournament, Stanford easily beat out Oregon (+10) and Arizona State (+11).

McNealy set the pace for the Cardinal, carding a record-breaking 9-under, 61, which is the lowest single round score in a collegiate tournament at the Palouse Ridge Golf Course. He won the individual title after carding an 18-under, 262, over four rounds, which is also a Pac-12 Championships record.

The WSU Cougars fell into tenth place at the Tournament’s conclusion. In contrast to the victors, no Cougar could card a score lower than a 3-over par in the fourth round. Redshirt senior Sang Lee led WSU, shooting a 73.

Freshman Derek Bayley, who was in second place halfway through the tournament, shot a 4-over, 74, to finish the tournament in a tie for 15th place. Despite comparatively disappointing performances each of the past two days, his 3-over, 283, over four rounds was a record low for a WSU freshman at the Pac-12 Championships.

Head Coach Garrett Clegg praised Bayley for coming along as far as he has during his first season.

“Hopefully he understands a little bit of how good he really is. Golf is a game where belief is such a big hurdle to overcome,” Clegg said. “He’ll be great, he’ll be the guy that everyone looks to going forward.”

Bayley said he hopes to use the insight he gained over the past three days to his advantage in the future, even if he didn’t perform as well as he would have liked.

“In the third and fourth rounds, my putting was just terrible,” Bayley said. “The only thing I can do is just take it as a learning experience.”

Senior Michael Anderson shot a 7-over, 77, in the final round. His morning started off well – he was at 2-under par through his first 6 holes, including a 2-stroke eagle on his 6th hole (hole 15).

However, he struggled down the stretch and didn’t birdie any of the final 12 holes. Anderson finished just one stroke behind Bayley for the entire tournament, and tied for 17th with USC sophomore Rico Hoey (+4, 284).

Although the Cougars closed out the tournament on a low note, Bayley said he thinks he and his teammates will be able to move on with more information about themselves.

“We have to take it as a positive that we were in third at one point in the Pac-12 Championships,” Bayley said. “Hopefully our guys take it as a learning experience.”

Even with the discouragement of not being efficient enough to preserve their high spot in the rankings, Clegg showed confidence that the Cougs will be prepared to come back and compete next year.

“None of us like to end our season not feeling great about things,” Clegg said. “It wasn’t the best way to finish, but I don’t want it to dull what’s on the horizon.”

Reporting by Spencer Anderson