Brinker, McMyler Shoot Under Par; Duke Has Solid Start at NCAA Championship

CARLSBAD, Calif.  – Led by under par rounds by senior Phoebe Brinker and graduate student Emma McMyler, the Duke women’s golf team featured a solid start at the NCAA Championship, which is being contested at the 6,297-yard, par-72 Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course in Carlsbad, Calif.
 
As a team, the Blue Devils carded a 2-under, 286, in the opening round and are tied for sixth overall, including only one shot out of third place.  The under-par round for Duke is tied for the second-lowest opening score for the Blue Devils in school history at the NCAA Championship. 
 
Brinker turned in a 3-under, 69, and is tied for eighth after day one.  Her score in the 60s was just the fifth in the first round in Blue Devil history.  McMyler posted a 1-under, 71, in her NCAA Championship debut and is tied for 18th. 
 
How It Happened

• As a team, Clemson opened the morning action with an 8-under, 280, and leads the field.Texas A&M (281), Stanford (285), Auburn (285), Northwestern (285), San Jose State (286), Duke (286) and Arizona State (286) round out the top six.
• Duke opened action on hole No. 10 at 12:55 p.m., local time (3:55 p.m. ET).
• Going off first for the Blue Devils, Phoebe Brinker jumped out to a tremendous start with birdies on her first two holes.She rolled in a 20-footer on the par-5 10th hole and then hit her 50-degree wedge from 105 yards to seven feet for birdie on No. 11.Then after waiting for a little while for the group ahead of hers to finish on No. 12, Brinker went on the miss each of the next two greens and drop a pair of shots.A product of Wilmington, Del., Brinker regrouped and went on a string where she birdied three out of five holes.She rolled in a 6-footer for birdie on No. 17, hit her 9-iron from 140 yards to two feet for birdie on No. 1 and stuck her 7-iron from 155 yards to six feet on No. 3 for birdie to move to 3-under.Brinker missed the 17th green and suffered a bogey, but closed strong with a 15-foot birdie on her final hole, the 364-yard, par-4 No. 9, to close the day with a 3-under, 69.She hit 13 greens, 13 fairways and tied a season low with 28 putts.
• In her first NCAA Championship appearance, Emma McMyler shook off a few early nerves after bogeying No. 10 and No. 13 to drop to 2-over.Following back-to-back pars, McMyler hit her pitching wedge from 136 yards…