NORTH PLAINS, Ore. – The UCLA men’s golf team finished the opening round of the three-day Big Ten Championships in a tie with Washington for second place, carding 1-over 281, just two strokes behind first-place Illinois.

 

The Bruins, along with Washington, had built a three-stroke lead over fourth-place Nebraska (4-over 284). Illinois closed the opening round with the team lead (1-under 279).

 

The Big Ten Championships will continue from Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon with the second round on Saturday and the third round on Sunday. UCLA won the Big Ten Championships in its first year as a Big Ten member last May and is looking to repeat as the conference champion.

 

Freshman Josh Kim, from Danville, Calif., was tied for first place on the individual leaderboard after Friday’s first round. Kim shot 3-under 67 through 18 holes, tied with Northwestern’s Jeremy Chen and Illinois’ Freddie Turnel. Two golfers were tied for fourth place at 2-under 68. Bruins’ sophomore Baylor Larrabee closed the opening round in a tie for sixth place, having carded 1-under 69.

 

Kim finished the day with no bogeys, having totaled three birdies – on holes 3, 13 and 18.

 

Larrabee totaled three birdies and two bogeys. He was one of five golfers in the first round to finish at 1-under 69.

 

Bruins’ freshman Tyler Loree shot 1-over 71, tied for 16th place on Friday. Senior Kyle An and junior Alex Papayoanou each finished at 4-over 74 (T-57th).

 

The top nine teams on Friday, in order, included (1) Illinois, (T-2) UCLA, (T-2) Washington, (4) Nebraska, (T-5) Minnesota, (T-5) Northwestern, (7) Rutgers, (8) Michigan and (9) Oregon.

 

UCLA will return to action in the second round on Saturday, May 2, at approximately 11:10 a.m., from the first hole at Pumpkin Ridge’s Witch Hollow.

 

Sunday’s third and final round will include three hours of live coverage at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, televised by the Big Ten Network. Coverage will begin on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (PT), anchored by Rick Pizzo and Eric Ciotti in the Big Ten Network’s studios, along with Emma Carpenter on the course.