Ducks One Stroke Off Lead At Northrop Grumman Challenge
PALOS VERDES, Calif. – The Oregon women's golf team is tied for second place and just one stroke off the lead at the Northrop Grumman Challenge after firing a 3-over 287 in the opening round on Sunday at Palos Verdes Golf Club.
The No. 2 Ducks are tied with No. 6 Virginia for second place, one stroke back of Kent State for the 18-hole lead. No. 21 Duke is in fourth at 6-over par. Junior Briana Chacon was the top individual performer for Oregon in round one, shooting a 1-under 70 to put her in a tie for fifth place and three strokes back of Wake Forest's Rachel Kuehn (-4).
"It was a little bit of a mixed bag for us today," head coach Derek Radley said. "We got off to a bit of a slow start and then were able to string some birdies together and get back on track. We let a few shots get away from us there late, but we're still in pretty good position going into tomorrow. We got a good feel of the course today and look forward to coming back and putting together some really solid rounds tomorrow and Tuesday."
How it Happened: Chacon got off to a great start, making back-to-back birdies to get to 2-under par through her first seven holes. A couple of bogeys brought her back to even par with six holes to play, but she finished with five pars and a birdie to fire her seventh par-or-better round of the season.
Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu and Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen each came in one stroke behind Chacon with an even-par 71, putting them in a tie for 11th place on the individual leaderboard. Lu was 2 under through 13 holes before making three bogeyes in her final five, while Nielsen;s round was powered by three birdies in a five-hole span to finish her front nine.
Ching-Tzu Chen rounded out Oregon's counting scores with a 4-over 75. Chen made three birdies and 12 pars, but two doubles and a triple brought her score up over par. Tze-Han (Heather) Lin opened the tournament with a 6-over 77.
Ducks on the Leaderboard:
T2. Oregon – 287 (+3)
T5. Briana Chacon – 70 (-1)
T11. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu – 71 (E)
T11. Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen – 71 (E)
T36. Ching-Tzu Chen – 75 (+4)
T56. Tze-Han (Heather) Lin – 77 (+6)
Notable: Oregon led the field on Sunday with 62 total pars, and was second on par-4 holes at +8 … Chacon and Lin each had 13 pars to tie for the team lead … Chacon, Chen, Lu and Nielsen all had three birdies apiece … Lu was -1 on par-4s, tied for third-best in the field.
Up Next: Oregon will tee off in round two of the Northrop Grumman Challenge at approximately 10:12 a.m. PT on Monday. The Ducks will be paired with Kent State, Virginia and Duke.