NORTH PLAINS, Ore. – The Purdue men’s golf team started strong, but faltered on the back nine of the first round at the Big Ten Championships.
The Boilermakers shot a 15-over par 295 to finish day one in 15th place, 16 shots behind leader Illinois, which was the only squad in red numbers at 1-under par 279.
Despite the slow start, Purdue is only five shots behind ninth-place Oregon and 11 shots behind fourth-place Nebraska.
Purdue played well on its opening nine, the back nine, making the turn in 1-under par. However, the Boilermakers struggled on its last nine of the day – the difficult front nine at Pumpkin Ridge. Six of the seven most-difficult holes in round one were on the front nine and it showed for the Boilermakers.
Purdue played the front nine in 16-over par, registering just three birdies with three double-bogeys, 13 bogeys and just 17 pars.
Kentaro Nanayama and Andre Zhu led the Boilermakers in round one at 2-over par 72, good for a tie for 26th. Nanayama made the turn at 2-under par and a share of the lead, but suffered three straight bogeys on 2, 3 and 4 to fall off the pace.
Supapon Amornchaichan was tied for 63rd at 5-over par 75, while Sam Easterbrook and Will Harvey shot 6-over par 76.
Purdue will tee off round two at 1:20 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET, off hole 10 and be paired with Penn State and Indiana.