OPELIKA, Ala. – Rasmus Karlsson shot a 1-over-par 73 Sunday in the first round of the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner, posting the low score for the University of South Alabama men's golf team on the first of three days at the event.

Jason Mendel and Yannick Schütz each also carded a 76 as the Jaguars finished the day with a 303 group total to stand 16th in the team standings after 18 holes.  Individually, Karlsson is in a tie for 22nd place going into Monday's second round.

Host Auburn — No. 7 in the nation in the Golfstat ratings at the start of play — fired a 7-under-par 281 to take a three-shot lead over Kennesaw State, although the Owls' Pablo Rodriguez-Tabernero is on top of the individual standings at the end of 18 holes after he posted a 6-under-par 66.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner (Auburn)
Date: 3/4
Course: Grand National Lake Course (par 72, 7,149 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=13910

TEAM SCORES
1) Auburn 281 (-7); 2) Kennesaw State 284; 3) Mississippi State 289; T4) Maryland 292; T4) Charlotte 292; 6) UNC-Greensboro 293; T7) Minnesota 296; T7) Southern Mississippi 296; T7) Georgia State 296; 10) Missouri 297; T11) Kansas State 299; T11) James Madison 299; 13) UNC-Wilmington 301; T14) Troy 302; T14) Chattanooga 302; 16) South Alabama 303; 17) Samford 313.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Pablo Rodriguez-Tabernero, KSU 66 (-6); 2) David Kocher, UMd 67; T3) Conor Purcell, Char 68; T3) Jovan Rebula, AU 68; T3) Wells Padgett*, AU 68; 6) Ben Schlottman, AU 69; T7) six individuals with 70.

SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T22) Rasmus Karlsson 73 (+1); T53) Jason Mendel 76; T53) Yannick Schütz 76; T72) Brooks Rabren 78; 90) Peter Staalbo 84.

TEE SHOTS
-This year's tournament field includes 17 teams with 93 individuals participating.
-It's the second straight round that Karlsson has paced the Jaguars after the sophomore closed the All-American Intercollegiate with a 69 last time out.
-He was 1-under-par on his last nine holes after birdying both par fives — Nos. 4 and 7 — on the front side of the course.
-Schütz led South with four birdies on the opening day of play; after teeing off from the 10th hole, he made the turn 1 under following back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14.
-Rabren followed a birdie on the 527-yard fourth by holing out for an eagle on No. 5, helping the junior play even par on his back nine.
-Mendel's lone birdie of the round came on No. 16, while Staalbo posted a three on the 423-yard fifth hole as well.
-Auburn and Kennesaw State were the only two teams to come in under par over the opening 18 holes, with just 15 individuals shooting below par on day one.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the opening day of the tournament: "Today was a tough day all the way around, the golf course is playing very difficult with the conditions.  It's a great golf course with a fantastic layout, but coming out of the dormant season if you miss a green you'll get a tight lie.  We struggled a little bit out of the gate and got off to a rough start, crawled back in the middle of the round to make some birdies — Brooks actually holed out on No. 5 for an eagle — and try to piecemeal together the round, but we ended on the front side and closed the last three holes poorly as a group."
On Rasmus Karlsson's play: "I was really proud of Rasmus today.  He is usually a tremendous ball striker but was a little all over the place, and mentally he was able to keep his composure — which is something he's been working on — and continue to grind to make some key up-and-downs when he needed to as well as some very good two-putts.  He hung in there playing the last three holes 1-under par to give us a 73 and really help us tremendously to help put us in a position to improve with a good team effort tomorrow."
On the approach to the second round on Monday: "After the round today we went to the practice range, each guy was focused on areas that needed attention.  The golf course was hard today, if you look at the results overall the golf course won, so we have to get ourselves in the frame of mind where we go out there ready to compete.  When adversity comes — and it will come on this golf course — hopefully we are able to handle it differently and be able to push through.  If we can do that, we're certainly playing well enough to put together a good score and put ourselves in the middle of it as we head into the final round on Tuesday."

Up next: The second round of the Tiger Invitational will get underway Monday at 7:40 a.m. (CST).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Birdie Club — the men's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Birdie Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/birdieclub.

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