Senior Trio Leads Strong Opening Round

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii – Seniors Sam Foust, Ryan Gronlund and Edwin Yi all finished the opening round in the top 10 to put Oregon in third place at the Amer Ari Invitational Thursday at the Waikoloa Kings' Course.

Gronlund led the way with a career-low 65 and is in second place, while Foust turned in a 66 and Yi a 67 as the Ducks finished 17 under and four shots behind leader No. 1 Oklahoma State.

How it Happened: Gronlund started his day with a birdie on hole nine, before bogeying the 10th. He responded by going 5 under over the next nine holes before dropping a shot at the par-3 third hole. A birdie on the par-5 fourth got him back to 5 under before he closed with back-to-back birdies to finish 7 under, just two shots off the individual lead.

Foust birdied the par-4 13th after starting his day with four straight pars, but double-bogeyed 15 to drop to 1 over. He got it in gear though with a birdie at 17 and an eagle at the par-5 18th to get back into red figures at 2 under. Foust closed strong with four birdies and no bogeys over his final eight holes to reach 6 under.

Yi got his round going with birdies at 11 and 13 after starting with three pars, but gave one back at the par-3 15th. He bounced back with three straight birdies at 17, 18 and one to get to 4 under on the round. A bogey at the par-3 third put Yi back at 3 under, but consecutive birdies at holes four and five got him to 5 under.

Donald Kay grinded out a 1-over 73 to be the fourth counting score for the Ducks while Kevin Geniza shot a 3-over 75 playing as an individual.

Quotable: Head coach Casey Martin
"Great round to start 2019. The seniors really were awesome today. They know their clock is ticking and they want to end their careers in a good way. Today was a great move in that direction."

Notable: The round was Oregon's lowest as a team to par and in terms of fewest strokes since round two of the 2017 Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate … Foust tied his career low with a 67, which he set in the fall at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate … Gronlund bested his previous career low of 66 which he shot in the final round of the 2018 Stockton Regional … The Ducks are the only team with three players in the top 10, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech both have two … Oregon made a season-high 30 birdies, which also led the field in round one.

Ducks on the Leaderboard:
3. Oregon – 271 (-17)
2. Ryan Gronlund – 65 (-7)
T3. Sam Foust – 66 (-6)
T7. Edwin Yi – 67 (-5)
T65. Donald Kay – 73 (+1)
T88. Kevin Geniza – 75 (+3)*
T102. Craig Ronne – 79 (+7)
*Competed as an individual

Up Next: The Ducks will play round two of the Amer Ari Invitational Friday, beginning with a 9:30 a.m. Pacific shotgun start. They will be paired with No. 2 Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.