Ducks Start Strong at The Prestige

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Aiden Krafft leads the Oregon lineup after firing a 2-under 69 in the opening round at The Prestige. Krafft carded his first round under 70 of the spring season and sits in a tie for sixth with five players. Krafft's 2-under round leaves him just three strokes behind the current leader, Rylan Johnson of Oregon State.

Oregon sits in second place with a 2-under 282 heading into the second round, seven strokes behind the leading Oregon State team. Oregon is one of four teams under par after the first round.

How It Happened
The Ducks teed off on the back-nine and Krafft opened with three par holes. The senior birdied five holes including back-to-back shots on hole No. 15 and 16, but a bogey and double-bogey blemished his scorecard.

Freshman Sebastian Desoisa finished 1-under, his ninth round at par or better as a Duck. Desoisa carded four birdies, but three bogeys held him just outside the top-10 after the first day of play. Casper Nerpin shot an even round, with two birdies and two bogeys.

Kyreece Romero rounded out Oregon's counting scores, with a pair of birdies to finish 1-over 72 for the day. Tim Chang shot 6-over 77 and looks to improve in round two.

Duck Scorecard
The Prestige
Greg Norman Course at PGA WEST – Par 71 (7,185 yards)
2. Oregon – 282 (-2)
T6. Aiden Krafft – 69 (-2)
T12. Sebastian Desoisa – 70 (-1)
T22. Casper Nerpin – 71 (E)
T31. Kyreece Romero – 72 (+1)
T96. Tim Chang – 77 (+5)

Notable
Aiden Krafft leads the field with a 2.50 Par 3 scoring average and is tied for fourth with a 4.33 par 5 scoring average … Krafft is also tied for second with 5 birdies in the first round … Casper Nerpin is tied for sixth with 14 par holes … As a team, the Ducks posted the second best Par 3 scoring average at 2.95 … Oregon is tied for the sixth best Par 5 scoring average, 4.87 … The Ducks have the third most par holes by a team, and are tied for 3^rd with 62.

Next Up
Second round action at The Prestige gets underway on Tuesday, Feb. 18.