Aug. 30, 2009

RIVERSIDE, Iowa - Baylor men's golf junior Payne Gniewek shot an opening-round 4-under 68 to take a share of the lead, while helping the Bears to a five-stroke lead Sunday at Golfweek's Conference Challenge.

Gniewek, who transferred to Baylor after two years at Michigan State, shares the individual lead with Xavier's Sebastian MacLean and Middle Tennessee' Jason Millard. Gniewek tallied five birdies during the first round en route to his lowest 18-hole score, besting his preview low of 69 set a Michigan State.

Baylor (280) was one of only three teams to shoot under par during Sunday's first round at the par-72 Blue Top Ridge Golf Course. Middle Tennessee is in second with a 3-under 285, followed by Florida State in third at 1-under 287. Host Iowa is in fourth after an even-par 288.

"The guys played really well today," Baylor head men's golf coach Greg Priest said. "We got off to a good start and finished with a solid day of play."

Sophomore Lorenzo Scotto is tied for fourth after carding a 3-under 69. Scotto nearly ended the day with a share of the lead, but the Pordenone, Italy, native bogeyed No. 18 to finish with a 69.

Sophomore Morten Bergan carded the lowest 18-hole score of his career with a 1-under 71 to finish the day in 12th place. Bergan birdied two of his opening three holes Sunday before falling back to even-par mid-way through the back nine. The Norwegian managed to regroup as he birdied the par-4 No. 15 to finish under par. Joakim Mikkelsen is tied for 16th with an even-par 72, while junior Cody Paladino is tied for 37th with a 3-over 75.

"Anytime the bottom part of your lineup can pick up the slack like today makes you a good team," Priest said. "It was just an all-around good team effort today."

The second round of Golfweek's Conference Challenge will tee off at 8 a.m. CT Monday. Live scoring will be available at www.GolfStat.com.

TEAM RESULTS

BAYLOR INDIVIDUAL RESULTS