Ducks In Striking Distance After One Round

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Warm and windy conditions Friday afternoon in the desert took their toll on the field during the first round of the NCAA Championship tournament, and No. 2 Oregon wasn't immune.

As usual the five Ducks were tightly clustered, led by an even-par 72 from senior Tze-Han (Heather) Lin. Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen was 1 over for the day, and the other three Ducks were at 4-over 76 following the first round on the 6,340-yard Grayhawk Golf Club.

Oregon played in the afternoon wave Friday, and as the Ducks took the course Texas A&M led the field at 4 over during the morning wave. Only one team in the afternoon bettered that total, No. 1 Stanford, as gusting winds played havoc with scores.

"I was proud of our effort today," UO coach Derek Radley said. "We really battled and hung tough. It was tricky; the wind certainly was a little bit more than we thought it was going to be."

How It Happened: The Ducks began their round from the No. 10 tee Friday, and Radley slotted his senior Lin in the No. 5 position in the lineup so that she would be the first UO player on the course. Lin responded by making birdie on her first two holes.

"The thing I'm most proud about Heather is, she's able to stay in the moment," Radley said. "She's got a lot coming up with graduation in her future, but she was still able to give us everything she's got. We asked her to lead the troops today, so to speak, and she did that."

The Ducks otherwise were slow starters, carding six bogeys among their five players in the first three holes. Briana Chacon and Kibsgaard Nielsen each birdied No. 17 and both Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu and Ching-Tzu Chen birdied No. 18, putting the Ducks at 3 over as they made the turn.

Momentum was fleeting, however, in the increasingly gusty winds. Nielsen scored par on each of her last nine holes, Lin played her back nine even with one birdie, and Lu played her second nine 1 over. Chacon had two birdies with four bogeys and Chen had a birdie with five bogeys.

Team Leaderboard
1. Stanford — 289 (+1)
2. Texas A&M — 292 (+4)
3. UCLA — 295 (+7)
T4. Auburn — 296 (+8)
T4. LSU — 296 (+8)
T4. Florida State — 296 (+8)
7. Oregon — 297 (+9)
T8. Alabama — 298 (+10)
T8. USC — 298 (+10)
10. Mississippi State — 299 (+11)

Ducks on the Leaderboard
T6. Tze-Han (Heather) Lin — 72 (E)
T18. Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen — 73 (+1)
T55. Briana Chacon — 76 (+4)
T55. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu — 76 (+4)
T55. Ching-Tzu Chen — 76 (+4)

What It Means: Given the conditions, Radley said he and assistant Monica Vaughn talked about hoping the Ducks on Friday could keep their team score in single digits. Having done that, Oregon can now go about repeating its season-long trend of playing progressively better in tournaments.

"There's no question we always get more comfortable as the week goes on," Radley said. "I never count out my Ducks. Tomorrow we're going to come out with a little bit more of a pedal-to-the-metal mentality. And we want to move up that leaderboard."

Up Next: The Ducks begin their second round on hole No. 1 on Saturday at 6:30 a.m.