WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i – Andrew Kozan and Jovan Rebula each recorded an eagle to highlight the first round of the Amer Ari Invitational Thursday afternoon. No. 11 Auburn is in sixth after firing a 9-under 279 at the par-72 Kings' Course.
Rebula, who leads the Tigers after shooting a 4-under 68, secured an eagle on the 513-yard, par-5 fourth hole. The senior racked up four birdies and is tied for 10th overall.
Kozan turned in an eagle on the longest hole of the day - the 601-yard, par-5 14th hole. He is part of an Auburn trio that is tied for 28th on the leaderboard at 2-under (70).
Joining Kozan in the group at 2-under were Graysen Huff and Brandon Mancheno. Huff, competing as an individual, had five birdies with three coming on the front nine and two on the back nine. Mancheno was near flawless all day as he carded a team-best 14 pars to go along with three birdies and just one bogey.
Alex Vogelsong and Wells Padgett rounded out the Tiger contingent, both of which turned in rounds of even par or better.
Vogelsong shook off a rocky start on the back nine and rattled off five birdies on the front nine to end the day at 1-under (71). Padgett had four birdies spread evenly across the front and back nine. He ended the day at even par (72).
As a team, Auburn is just five strokes off the lead, currently held by No. 10 Texas and No. 2 Georgia Tech at 14-under (274). No. 17 Arizona State (275), Oklahoma State (276) and No. 3 Texas Tech (278) round out the top five.
Auburn is paired with Oregon, Pepperdine and Texas Tech for the second round Thursday with a shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. CT off the fourth, fifth and sixth holes. Live scoring is available on Golfstat.com.
Team Scores
T-1. Texas: -14 (274)
T-1. Georgia Tech: -14 (274)
3. Arizona State: -13 (275)
4. Oklahoma State: -12 (276)
5. Texas Tech: -10 (278)
6. Auburn: -9 (279)
7. Pepperdine: -7 (281)
8. Oregon: -6 (282)
T-9. USC: -4 (284)
T-9. TCU: -4 (284)
11. Oregon State: -3 (285)
T-12. San Jose State: -2 (286)
T-12. Hawai'i: -2 (286)
T-14. Osaka Gakuin (Japan): E (288)
T-14. Colorado: E (288)
16. UC Davis: +1 (289)
17. CSUN: +3 (291)
18. Stanford: +7 (295)
19. Hawai'i-Hilo: +10 (298)
20. Pacific: +16 (304)
Auburn Individuals
T-10. Jovan Rebula: -4 (68)
T-28. Andrew Kozan: -2 (70)
T-28. Brandon Mancheno: -2 (70)
T-28. Graysen Huff: -2 (70) - ind.
T-38. Alex Vogelsong: -1 (71)
T-51. Wells Padgett: E (72)