May 29, 2012
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Stanford shot an opening round 293 and is tied for 13th place after the first round of the NCAA Championships being held at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
The Cardinal is eight strokes behind first place Alabama, which carded an opening round 285 (+1), but just three strokes off the current cutline to determine which eight teams will advance to match play.
Florida and Auburn are tied for second at 288 (+4) while UCLA and Oklahoma are tied for fifth at 289. Five teams are tied for sixth at six-over.
Patrick Rodgers was the only Stanford player to break par on the par-71, 7,292-yard Riviera layout. The freshman from Avon, Ind. turned in an opening round of 69 (-2) and is tied for fourth place.
He trails first round leader Anton Arboleda of UCLA, who opened with a 67, by two shots.
Rodgers, who has nine top-10 finishes in his 11 events this season, made the turn at one-under after birdies on 11 and 17, his second and eighth holes of the day. He moved to two-under with a birdie on the par-5 first hole, his 10th of the day. Rodgers offset a bogey on his 11th hole with a birdie on his 14th hole and then birdied the last four holes for a final score of 69.
Andrew Yun and Steve Kearney are tied for 62nd place after both players shot opening round scores of 74 (+3).
Freshman Patrick Grimes is tied for 98th after posting a 76 while Cameron Wilson is tied for 137th after shooting a 79 on Tuesday.
Stanford will be paired with Washington and Oregon again on Wednesday as the NCAA Men's Golf Championships continue at Riviera.