Du, Kwon Sit At Top At John Burns Intercollegiate

LIHUE, Hawaii – Sophomore Aaron Du and freshman Simon Kwon both put together career-performances in Thursday's opening round at the John Burns Intercollegiate. Competing as an individual, Kwon's score of 65 (-7) leads the field while Du is Cal's top scorer, tied for second after shooting a 66 (-6). As a team, the Bears are in a four-way tie for 14th with two rounds to play.
 
Starting on hole 11, Du collected four birdies in his first seven holes before hitting his only bogey of the round on the third hole. The Beijing, China native recovered nicely, however with three more birdies in his final seven holes. Meanwhile, beginning on the 17th hole, Kwon found himself at five under par after just six holes, a stretch which included four-consecutive birdies. In just the freshman's seventh round of collegiate golf, he is leading the field after amassing nine birdies (the most in the field) in the opening round at the Ocean Course at Hokuala. Kwon and Du's rounds of 65 and 66 represent career-lows for the duo and together, they combined for an impressive 16 birdies.
 
Sophomore Sampson Zheng finished the day +2 (74) which was Cal's second-best score of the round. The Nagoya, Japan native reached as low as -1, but struggled in his final three holes, shooting three over during that time. Zheng is currently tied for 52nd. Grad student Finigan Tilly finished his first round three strokes behind Zheng (77, +5) and is tied for 86th. Despite starting off with a double bogey, Tilly remained calm and delivered a pair of birdies in his back nine. The final Bears currently in position to score are redshirt sophomore Costas Panay and redshirt freshman Ethan Chung. Panay and Chung are tied for 96th after shooting a 79 (+7).
 
As a team, Cal (296, +8) is currently in a four-way tie for 14th with Texas El Paso, Long Beach State and Santa Clara. The Bears are 21 strokes behind Arizona who leads with a combined score of 275 (-13).
 
Cal will return to the course tomorrow for the second of three rounds at the John Burns Intercollegiate. The shotgun start will begin at 8:30am HT/10:30am PT with Bears teeing off at holes 16 (Kwon), 21 (Zheng), 22 (Du), 23 (Tilly), 24 (Panay, Charlie Berridge) and 26 (Chung). Follow along with the live stats here. 
 
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