05/26/2009 - Duke Sports Information

TOLEDO, OH -- Senior Clark Klaasen fired a one-over 72 on Tuesday to lead Duke into a 10th place tie with a 13-over 297 after the opening round of the NCAA Championship. Junior Adam Long and senior Michael Quagliano each shot two-over 73s to help pace the Blue Devil attack at Inverness Club (par 71, 7,255 yards) in Toledo, Ohio.

"Clark, Adam and Michael played really solid golf from start to finish," said head coach Jamie Green. "I know Adam was maybe not quite as happy with his finish, but the reality of it was really good play for 18 holes from those guys. To play well out here you have to continue to drive the ball in the fairway and doing that the next couple of days is going to be a key for us. There is still a lot of golf today and our best golf is still in front of us."

Oklahoma State and Georgia share the first round lead at four-over with Tennessee-Chattanooga (+8, 292), Washington (+9, 293) and San Diego (+9, 293) rounding out the top five. Arizona State, Ohio State and Tennessee are tied for sixth at 10-over (294) with Michigan (+12, 296), Arkansas (+13, 297) and Duke (+13, 297) filling out the top 10. The top eight teams after 54 holes of play advance on to the match-play portion of the NCAA Championship.

Jonathan Bowers (Northwestern), Scott Langley (Illinois) and Matt Hill (N.C. State) share the individual lead at two-under (69). Five players are tied for fourth at one-under as only eight players shot under-par in the opening round.

Klaasen continued his strong play over the final two months of the season with a one-over 72. He opened the day par-par before carding his first birdie of the day on the par 3 third hole. After a bogey on No. 4, the Grand Rapids, Mich., native sank an eight-foot putt for birdie No. 5 to move back to one-under. Klaasen hit a rough patch in the middle of the round with bogeys on No. 7, No. 10 and No. 13 to fall to two-over par. He rebounded to play the final five holes at one-under par with a birdie on the par 4 16th hole. Klaasen is tied for 16h overall, three shots off the opening round leaders.

Long started slow on Tuesday with bogeys on No. 1 and No. 3 to fall to two-over early in the round. After four straight pars, he carded his first birdie of the round on No. 8. Long added birdies on No. 12 and No. 13 to get to one-under par. On the par 5 13th hole, he nearly chipped in for eagle prior to tapping in his third birdie of the day. Long bogeyed the next three holes to fall to two-over but recovered in time to finish par-par and move into a tie for 29th.

Quagliano, a senior from Ardsley, N.Y., is also tied for 29th after carding three birdies, 10 pars and five bogeys for a two-over 73. He opened with a birdie on No. 1 before slipping to one-over after bogeys on No. 5 and No. 6. Quagliano birdied the par 5 eighth hole and added a par on No. 9 to make the turn at even-par. He added a birdie on No. 10 to get back into red figures but gave a stroke back on No. 12 to move back to even-par. Quagliano parred the next four holes before closing bogey-bogey on the challenging 17th and 18th holes.

"Michael started off really hot with the putter and rolled it well all day," said Green. "He stayed patient and positive and really gave himself a good number of opportunities. He certainly had a solid round out there today."

Sophomore Matthew Pierce battled flu-like symptoms throughout his round to shoot an eight-over 79. He had one birdie, eight pars and nine bogeys on the day. Pierce is tied for 127th after 18 holes of play.

Wes Roach, a sophomore from Knoxville, Tenn., got off to a terrible start en route to a 10-over 81. He was 12-over through the first 12 holes before playing the final six holes at two-under par. Roach parred holes No. 13-17 before closing the day by holing out for eagle from around 100 yards on the par 4 18th.

"Wes eagled his last hole of the day, one of the best closing holes in all of golf," added Green. "Making eagle there was a pretty cool way to end the day and hopefully that can jump start him for tomorrow."

Duke is in the final pairing off the back side of Inverness in tomorrow's second round. The Blue Devils will again be paired with Michigan and Iowa. Live scoring, complete stats, tee times and pairings are available at www.golfstat.com.

"Our guys are focused, ready and hungry," said Green. "We are really looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow and getting after this golf course again."

NOTES
*** As a team, Duke had 10 birdies and an eagle in the opening round ... Adam Long, Clark Klaasen and Michael Quagliano each had three birdies on the day.

*** Adam Long carded birdies on both par 5s at Inverness ... Long posted a counting team score for the 34th straight round this season.

*** Duke's four counting players did not record a double-bogey or higher in the opening round at the challenging Inverness Club.

*** Duke is currently ahead of 13 teams ranked in the top 25 of the golfstat rankings.