With first round play at the NCAA Championships in the books, the No. 1 Oregon Ducks are right where they expected to be: near the top of the standings.
The men shot an opening round 284 (4 under par) as a team, good for third overall. Two teams are tied for the top spot: No. 4 Oklahoma State, and No. 11 Florida State, each with first round scores of 283 (5 under par). Given that Florida State falls outside of the top 10 in Golfstat’s rankings, it will be interesting to see if the team can continue to surprise.
Per usual, the Ducks were paced by dynamic sophomores Eugene Wong and Daniel Miernicki. Wong wasted little time finding his game, shooting an opening round 69 (3 under par) to tie for third individually. Miernicki came in just one stroke behind Wong with a 70 (2 under par), and stands tied for 13th through one round.
Picking up where he left off at the Southwest Regional, junior Isaiah Telles shot a first round 71 (1 under par) to tie for 26th overall. The only Oregon players to finish over par were junior Jack Dukeminier (74, 2 over par) and sophomore Andrew Vijarro (76, 4 over par).
Two players are currently tied for the individual lead: Jesper Kennegard of Arizona State and Henrik Norlander of Augusta State. With scores of 68 (4 under par) in the first round, Kennegard and Norlander are just one stroke ahead of Wong and the many others who stand at 3 under par.
Play continues today at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn.
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