Sept. 16, 2011
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. - The ninth-ranked Auburn men's golf team (285) shot a 5-over opening round Friday and is in a three-way tie for third at the Olympia Fields Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of Illinois.
The 15-team field boasts six top-10 and 10 top-25 programs.
"We played a good round today," said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. "We are in the final pairing for tomorrow's second round with two outstanding teams. We need to stick to our game plan and focus on what we can do as a team."
No. 12 Stanford (277) holds the team lead at 3-under followed by second-ranked Oklahoma State (282) at 2-over. No. 3. Alabama (285) and No. 20 Ohio State (285) are tied with the Tigers for third.
Junior Blayne Barber (70) led the Tigers with an even-par opening round and is tied for 12th after returning from Scotland and the 2011 Walker Cup. Senior Will McCurdy (71) shot 1-over on the day and is tied for 15th.
Junior Dominic Bozzelli (72), sophomore Niclas Carlsson (72) and freshman Michael Johnson (72) are all tied for 25th at 2-over.
Indiana (288) is in sixth followed by No. 5 Texas (289), Florida State (289), No. 13 Illinois (289), No. 7 Florida (290), Arizona State (290), No. 8 Duke (292), Notre Dame (292), No. 22 Augusta State (293) and Northwestern.
Stanford's Andrew Yun (66) holds the individual lead at 4-under par.
The Tigers tee off at 9:20 a.m. CST with Oklahoma State and Stanford. Live scoring will be made available via www.Golfstat.com.