Auburn leads "Mo" Morial after one round

Sept. 8, 2014

Alex Harrell is tied for second after an opening 71 (-1). (Wade Rackley photo)

BRYAN, Texas - Auburn's women's golf team fired a 3-over-par 291 in their 2014-15 season debut to grab the 18-hole lead Monday after one round at The "Mo" Morial.

Led by junior Alex Harrell's 71, the Tigers were steady throughout their first 18 holes of the season to take a four-shot lead over Houston at the Texas A&M Traditions Club (par 72, 6,206 yards).

Three Auburn players are in the top five after 18 holes of play. Harrell, tied for second, led the way at 1-under par with sophomore Clara Baena and junior Jamie Yun recording matching rounds of even-par 72 to tie for fifth.

"We got off to a good start," Auburn head coach Kim Evans said. "I see a lot of potential. Alex is 1-under, and we had a chance to shoot under par (as a team) today. Jamie played really solid all day, and Clara did too. They were close all day to taking it even lower. Our freshmen had chances; they might have been a little shaky on the back nine. But we held our own today. We worked really hard after the round, and we're ready to get back at it tomorrow."

Harrell started hot with a bogey-free front nine that included a birdie at the par-3 seventh to get to 1-under at the turn. She bogeyed the par-5 10th to move back to even before finishing with seven pars surrounding a birdie at the par-5 15th to get back into red numbers. It matched the best individual round of her collegiate career, equaling a final-round 71 at last year's Lady Puerto Rico Classic.

Baena was steady throughout her round with 16 pars on the day. She stumbled at the second hole with a bogey but played her way back to level par with a birdie at the 10th. From there, she would make eight straight pars to close out the round at even par.

Yun would card two birdies and two bogeys on the day to match her best collegiate round as well. She made the turn at even par after a bogey at the par-4 third hole and a birdie at the par-5 fifth. Yun would come to the 18th at 1-under after a birdie at No. 11, but a closing bogey kept her from breaking par on the day.

A birdie and three bogeys on the front had freshman Sophia Schubert 2-over at the turn, but back-to-back bogeys at the 14th and 15th left her at 4-over for the day. Fellow freshman Kelli Murphy also had a front-nine 38 but struggled at the finish, bogeying two of her final three holes to post a 77. And senior Victoria Trapani, playing as an individual, bounced back from a double-bogey on the fifth with birdies at 10 and 13, but a pair of double-bogeys at the 16th and 17th derailed an otherwise solid round.

Florida State's Kayla Jones recorded an opening 68 (-3) to take a two-shot lead in the individual standings. Harrell is tied with Kentucky's Haley Mills and ULM's Lana Hodge for second heading into Tuesday's second round.

Live scoring for the tournament is available at birdiefire.com, and fans can follow @AuburnWGolf on Twitter for periodic updates throughout the day.

*Competing as an individual