Feb. 23, 2009

Thousand Oaks, California - Behind strong rounds from TJ Bordeaux and Patrick Kucich the Tigers are in ninth place after the first day of the USC Collegiate Invitational. Pacific fired rounds of 290-297 for a +19 at the 6,869-yard, par 71, North Ranch Country Club.

The Tigers opening around 290 was better than top ranked USC (292), 19th ranked UCLA (292) and 28th ranked San Diego State (294). Scores shifted out in the afternoon as 7th ranked Stanford moved up to the top of the leaderboard with a 276 and BYU fell back to second at -6.

Bordeaux's one-over 72 in the morning was joined by sophomore Bayhaan Lakdawala's while both Kucich and Alex Johnson finished at 73. Senior Charlie Van Sicklen, fighting sickness, contributed a 76. In the second round it was Bordeaux again leading the charge, this time joined by Kucich at 72 each. Johnson posted a +4 and both Lakdawala and Van Sicklen posted rounds of 78.

"To be six-over in the morning, on this course, in our opening round...is a great start for us," said head coach Brandon Goethals. "We struggled a little in the afternoon but we're in a good position to move up."

The Tigers start their third round tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. Results can be tracked online at www.golfstat.com.

PACIFIC SCORES T9 Pacific, U of +19 F 290 297 587 T23 T.J. Bordeaux +2 F 72 72 144 T29 Patrick Kucich +3 F 73 72 145 T39 Alex Johnson +6 F 73 75 148 T50 Bayhaan Lakdawala +8 F 72 78 150 T68 Charles Van Sicklen +12 F 76 78 154

TEAM SCORES 1 7 Stanford University -8 F -8 284 276 560 2 Brigham Young Univ. -6 F +3 275 287 562 3 29 California, U. of +3 F +2 285 286 571 T4 UC-Irvine +11 F +11 284 295 579 T4 19 UCLA +11 F +3 292 287 579 6 9 Washington +12 F +8 288 292 580 7 39 Pepperdine +15 F +11 288 295 583 8 4 Southern California +16 F +8 292 292 584 T9 Pacific, U of +19 F +13 290 297 587 T9 28 San Diego State +19 F +9 294 293 587 11 Fresno State +20 F +16 288 300 588 12 Oregon State U. +28 F +12 300 296 596 13 Loyola Marymount U. +30 F +15 299 299 598