Hiroshi Tai of Georgia Tech shot an impressive 5-under 67 and recorded seven birdies to take the lead after the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Tai started his round on hole No. 10 and birdied the par-5 No. 10. He turned to the front nine at 2-under and birdied holes No. 1, 2, 4, and 9 with a bogey on No. 5 to get into the clubhouse at 5-under.
Adam Wallin of Ohio State was out early and set the tone, shooting a 4-under 68. He started 2-under through his first two holes and finished with six birdies and two bogeys.
Karl Vilips, who won the Pac-12 individual conference championship, is T3 with John Dubois of Florida at 3-under. Johnny Keefer of Baylor, Tiger Christensen of Arizona, and Christo Lamprecht of Georgia Tech are T5 at 2-under.
Lamprecht is currently ranked No. 5 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
Five golfers are T8 at 1-under, and 12 golfers are T13 at even par on the crowded leaderboard.
A birdie at the 9th from 3 feet gives @HiroshiTai05 the lead to himself at -5. Your #NCAAGolf leader after the opening round. #StingEm pic.twitter.com/fcgZ74PgGP
— Georgia Tech Golf (@GTGolf) May 25, 2024
Some notable golfers after the opening 18 holes are Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt, who is T63 at 3-over, Michael Thorbjornsen of Stanford, who is T41 at 2-over, and Neal Shipley of Ohio State, who is T97 at 5-over.
Sargent and Thorbjornsen are the top two ranked golfers in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings and Shipley was the low amateur at the 2024 Masters Tournament.
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In the team competition, Arizona and Virginia are tied for the lead at 2-over, while North Carolina is just one shot back and in solo third place at 3-over.
Georgia Tech is in solo fourth place at 4-over, and Illinois and Auburn are T5 at 5-over. Ohio State is in solo seventh place at 6-over, and the defending champions, Florida, is in solo eighth place at 7-over.
Texas, Notre Dame, and East Tennessee State are T9 at 8-over, rounding out the top ten.