Nielsen Paces Ducks On Day One In Phoenix

PHOENIX – All-American Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen fired an even-par 72 to pace the Oregon women's golf team on Friday in the opening round of the PING ASU Invitational at Papago Golf Course.
 
The Ducks closed day one in 10th place at 6-over-par, with Stanford leading the 15-team field at 4 under. Oregon got off to a good start and was 4 under midway through the round to lead the field, but the Ducks were unable to maintain that pace on the back nine.
 
How it Happened: Nielsen started her day with a birdie aand added two more on the front nine to make the turn at 2-under-par. The Denmark native got to 3 under with a birdie on No. 10 before making a double bogey at No. 12, and she was 1 over the rest of the way to come into the clubhouse at even par.
 
Nielsen sits in a tie for 14th overall after the first round, five strokes off the lead.
 
Briana Chacon, Tze-Han (Heather) Lin, Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu and Alexis Phadungmartvorakul all shot 2-over 74s for the Ducks, with the first three rounding out Oregon's counting scores as Phadungmartvorakul is competing as an individual this weekend.
 
Lu was 2 under on the front nine with an eagle on No. 9, already the third eagle of the spring for the freshman to put in her a tie for second in UO single-season history.
 
Ducks on the Leaderboard:
10. Oregon – 294 (+6)
T14. Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen – 72 (E)
T34. Briana Chacon – 74 (+2)
T34. Tze-Han (Heather) Lin – 74 (+2)
T34. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu – 74 (+2)
T34. Alexis Phadungmartvorakul* – 74 (+2)
T74. Ching-Tzu Chen – 79 (+7)
* Competing as an individual
 
Notable: Nielsen posted the second-best score in the field on par-5 holes at 4 under, and Oregon tied for the best team mark at 6 under … Lu was one of four players in the field to record an eagle … Nielsen's five birdies tied for second-most of any player ... Nielsen shot par or better for the fourth time this season.
 
Up Next: Oregon is scheduled to return to Arizona for the PING/ASU Invitational in Tempe on March 26-28.