Oct. 23, 2006
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. -
Senior Matt Miller fired a first-round one-under-par 71, ending the first day tied for 13th and leading the Illinois State men's golf team at the ORU Shootout, Monday in Broken Arrow, Okla. As a team, the Redbirds finished the day in seventh place with a two-round total of 599 (302, 297) and 15 shots off the lead.
Miller finished the day with a two-round total of 146 (71, 75) and is only four shots off the individual lead at the Indian Springs Country Club. After a disappointing first-round score, Sophomore Ben Murphy fired a second-round one-under-par 71, finishing with a two-round total of 150 (79, 71) and tied for 20th. Sophomore Joe Emerich finished day one tied for 23rd with a two-round total of 151 (76, 75), while freshman Tommy Bliefnick (76, 76) was only one shot behind Emerich and tied for 28th. Making his collegiate debut, sophomore Matt Ryba finished in 60th with a two-round total of 163 (79, 84).
While the Redbirds ended the day in seventh-place, head coach Ray Kralis was pleased with overall effort from the Redbirds.
"Overall, I saw a lot of positives today," said Kralis. "Obviously we wanted to put up some lower numbers, but Matt Miller played a strong round in the morning. He didn't have the round he wanted to in the afternoon, but Ben Murphy stepped up with a big round in the afternoon with another under-par score, so it was great to see strong rounds from them. Tommy Bliefnick and Joe Emerich played much better than their scores showed and I saw some extremely positive things from them. I am very optimistic heading into tomorrow."
Tournament-host Oral Roberts finished the first day in the lead, backed by strong performances from Austin Hannah and Scott Stiles. Hannah and Stiles finished day one tied for third-place with a two-round total of 143. Missouri State finished in second-place with a two-round total of 588. Central Oklahoma, Missouri-Kansas City and Oklahoma City all finished tied for third with a three-round total of 589 and one shot behind Missouri State. Southern Illinois (591) finished the day in sixth.
Central Oklahoma's Colby Shrum and Missouri-Kansas City's Alex Hogben finished day one tied for medalist honors, both shooting two-round totals of 142.
Tuesday's final round will begin with a shotgun start at 9 a.m.
