Round One Results / Photo Gallery / Round Two Live Scoring / Tee Times
NEWBURGH, Ind. ââ'¬" The No. 32-ranked Purdue men's golf team played well in spots, but lacked consistency on the first day of the Big Ten Championships, currently sitting in a fourth-place tie after the first round at Victoria National Golf Club.
The Boilermakers fired a 3-over par 291 to trail leader and No. 3-ranked Illinois by 12 shots. The Illini shot a 9-under par 279 to lead the 14-team field. Maryland (-6) and Iowa (-3) round out the top three. The Boilermakers are tied for fourth with Michigan State.
Purdue's score of 291 equals its best 18-hole score in the Big Ten Championships since the 2010 event (284 in the second round). The Boilermakers also shot a 291 in the final round of the 2012 event.
"Today was not the start we were looking for," head coach Rob Bradley said. "We need to regroup and get back into position tomorrow to give us a chance to win on Sunday. This is a great golf course and it really suits our team and I think we have a good shot to make some noise this weekend."
Leading the Boilermakers was junior Fernando Barco, who turned in a nearly-flawless round of 3-under par 69 to sit in a tie for third. Barco recorded 13 pars, four birdies and one bogey on his round. After a birdie on the par-4 1st hole to start his role, he bogeyed No. 7 to fall to even par on his round. However, he answered with birdies on Nos. 9, 10 and 12 to move to 3-under par. He would par the final six holes for a 69, his sixth round in the 60s this year.
"Fernando played a really solid round today and avoided mistakes. That is what you have to do to score well on this course," Bradley added.
Sophomore Brian Carlson is tied for 15th after an even-par round of 72. Carlson was 2-over par after seven holes, but birdied Nos. 8, 10 and 11 to get to 1-under par. He would suffer bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15 to fall to 1-over par, but countered with a birdie on No. 17 to return to even-par, where he finished his round. It was his 15th round of even par or better this year (out of 30 rounds).
Austin Eoff is tied for 25th after an opening-round 73. Eoff struggled with his putter in the first round, but still managed to record four birdies. A double-bogey on the par-3 11th was sandwiched by birdies on Nos. 10 and 12 and he parred the rest of the holes for his 73.
Stuart Macdonald and Jarle Volden each rounded out Purdue's scoring with a 5-over par 77. Volden was 2-under par through six holes before back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 dropped him to even par. He was still even par through 13 holes, before bogeying Nos. 14 and 15 and triple-bogeying the most difficult hole on the course, No. 18, to drop him to 5-over par.
Macdonald could never get it going in round one, suffering a double-bogey early on hole No. 4. He birdied the par-3 7th, but answered with a bogey on No. 8 to fall to 3-over par. He was still 3-over par through 17 holes, before a double-bogey on No. 18 pushed him back to 5-over par.
The Boilermakers will be paired with Michigan State and Michigan for Saturday's second round, teeing off hole No. 1, beginning at 10:45 a.m. ET / 9:45 a.m. CT.