Sept. 11, 2012

Topy Cup 1st Round Results

TANAGURA, Japan - Baylor men's golf is in third place, two shots back of the lead, after shooting an opening round 275 on Tuesday at the 2012 Topy Cup at Tanagura Country Club in Tanagura, Japan.

Sophomore Mikkel Bjerch-Andresen is tied for the individual lead after posting a 4-under-par 66, while fellow sophomores Niclas Mansson and Kyle Jones are tied for 11th at 1-under 69. Senior Ryan O'Rear shot a 1-over 71 to bring the Bears' first-round total to 275, while freshman Andreas Gjesteby added a 5-over 75.

"Our guys played well today," head coach Greg Priest said. "The golf course is very demanding off the tee because of the out-of-bounds, and we did a good job of keeping it in play."

Baylor's first-round total is 15 shots better than any of the other three American teams, and the Bears are two shots back of co-leaders Tohoku Fukushi and Osaka Gakuin, which both shot 7-under 273.

Bjerch-Andresen is tied with Osaka Gakuin's Shingo Ito for the individual lead at -4, and a trio of Japanese golfers is tied for third, one shot back of the leaders.

"Mikkel played very solid today, which really helped," Priest said. "We just need to continue to get consistent scores from everyone, but I'm very happy with our effort."

The second round begins at 8 a.m. Wednesday in Japan, which is 6 p.m. CT Tuesday. Gjesteby has the Bears' first tee time at 8:15 p.m. CT, followed by O'Rear at 8:24 p.m., Jones at 8:33 p.m., Mansson at 8:42 p.m. and Bjerch-Andresen at 8:51 p.m. The third and final round of the Topy Cup is at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday.

Follow the official twitter feed of Baylor men's golf, @BaylorMGolf, for updates throughout the tournament.