No. 1 Auburn Golf Tied For Lead At U.S. Collegiate - AuburnTigers.com

No. 1 Auburn Golf Tied For Lead At U.S. Collegiate Junior Dominic Bozzelli tied for second with 5-under 67.

Dominic Bozzelli

Oct. 23, 2011

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - The No. 1 Auburn men's golf team (282) shot a 6-under opening round Sunday and is tied for the lead with No. 11 USC at the U.S. Collegiate Championship at the Golf Club of Georgia.

No. 21 Duke (283) is in third at 5-under followed by No. 5 Georgia Tech (284), No. 24 Florida State (286), No. 3 UCLA (288) and Washington (288).

"We played a great round today and really kept our mistakes to a minimum," said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. "Dom (Bozzelli) played one of his best rounds and helped put us in a good position moving forward here in Alpharetta."

Junior Dominic Bozzelli shot a career best 18 on Sunday, dropping a 5-under 67 to finish the day tied for second. The Pittsford, N.Y., product carded a flawless opening 18, firing five birdies to rest one stroke off individual leader Steve Lim (66) of USC.

Bozzelli led the Tigers from start to finish after a pair of birdies on 3 and 9 saw him make the turn at 2-under. The 2011 New York State Amateur champion lost no momentum on the back nine carding a birdie two on the par-3 13th.

Bozzelli then closed with two more on 17 and 18, carding birdies on 3-of-4 par-3s.

True freshman Michael Johnson (69) picked up his first collegiate round in the 60s Sunday, shooting 3-under par to finish tied for fifth. Recruited as the No. 7 collegiate prospect in the world, Johnson has appeared in all four of the Tigers 2011-12 events.

Junior Blayne Barber (72) shot even par to tie for 21st. The 2011 Walker Cup selection was sitting at 1-under through 13 before a double bogey on the par-4 14th set him back a pair of strokes.

Barber responded with a birdie on 16 and would par out the remainder of his round.

Senior Will McCurdy (74) finished Sunday tied for 37th at 2-over followed by junior Jackson Beindorf (78) tied for 67th at 6-over.

Iowa (293) is in eighth followed by No. 12 Clemson (294), Wake Forest (295), Kent State (295), No. 23 Virginia (297), No. 8 Texas A&M (300) and East Tennessee State (304).

The Tigers will tee off at 10:40 a.m. CST with Washington and Georgia Tech.

Complete results and tee times are available via www.GolfStat.com.