Feb. 19, 2013

The Prestige at PGA West First Round

LA QUINTA, Calif. - Stanford is tied for seventh place at one-over-par 285, after the opening round on Tuesday morning at the Prestige at PGA West on the Greg Norman Course.

Monday's first round was halted due to darkness and play resumed Tuesday morning. The remaining 10 groups teed off at 8 a.m. and finished soon after the first group in the second round began at 10 a.m.

Junior Cameron Wilson led Stanford with a four-under-par 67 after four birdies and no bogeys, tying for first.

"I got off to a good start and made a bunch of putts on the front nine," said Wilson who birdied the second, fifth, eighth, and 13th holes. "In the back nine, I hit the ball much better but I couldn't make any birdie putts. I made a lot of good decisions and I didn't put myself in too much trouble."

Under ideal conditions, five teams shot under par in the first round with TCU in first with a 278, seven strokes ahead of the Cardinal.

"All in all it was a decent start," said The Knowles Family Director of Golf Conrad Ray. "I think the tournament will get a little interesting based on the weather forecast. It's supposed to get a little windy in the next couple of days and the course changes a lot with the wind. We'll just wake up tomorrow and see what it brings, and keep working hard."

Sophomore Patrick Rodgers carded two consecutive birdies on the eighth and ninth holes to head one over into the back nine where he made two more birdies on the 16th and 18th. Rodgers finished the round with a 70, tying for 11th.

Andrew Yun, the senior from Chandler, Ariz., recorded a 72 for a tie in 28th. Rounding out the field are freshman David Boote and senior Steve Kearney, tied for 64th at 76.

"The course is fairly simple in many terms until the wind gets up so the guys should try to keep it in the fairway and plan to play two under par," said Philip Rowe, Stanford Enlight Foundation Assistant Coach, about a good team score on the Greg Norman Course. "That adds up to eight or 10 under par as a team. When the wind gets up, though, that's when the scores start separating."

For the individuals competing for the Cardinal, sophomore Patrick Grimes leads with 71, tying for 21st. Redshirt junior Andre DeDecker finished at 73 for 47th. Junior Shane Lebow tied for 64th at 76 and freshman Dominick Francks tied for 72nd at 77.

With the second round comes another test.

"I think today one key for me was being very patient," said Wilson. "There's so many birdie holes that if you leave a couple out there, you can get frustrated so just trying to stay as patient as I can be."

- By Estela-Marie Go, Stanford Athletics

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