PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. --- Freshman Liam Johnston (Dumfries, Scotland) is tied for 13th after firing an even-par 71 at historic Riviera Country Club to open the NCAA Men's Golf Championship. Johnston's round included five of Chattanooga's eight birdies.

It wasn't an easy 71 but one well-earned. Johnston hit just seven fairways and eight greens. He recorded just 25 putts and didn't even need one on the sixth hole.

His first tee shot went perilously close to out-of-bounds on the right side. So much so, he took a provisional that landed about four feet from the hole. He found his first ball and played his chip shot well past the hole utilizing the slope to bring it back down near the hole. The plan worked to perfection as the slope led the ball into the cup for a birdie two.

He is tied for 13th at level par. His four compadres each shot five-over par 76s for the Mocs' 299 total. Davis Bunn (Knoxville, Tenn.), Stephan Jaeger (Munich, Germany) and Chris Robb (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) each had a birdie and 11 pars on their cards, while Steven Fox (Hendersonville, Tenn.) had 13 pars without a birdie.

UTC is tied for 24th with TCU, Virginia Tech, Memphis and Lamar. That group is one shot behind No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 6 Southern California. No. 2 Alabama leads at one-over par 285. UCLA's Anton Arboleda is the individual leader at four-under par 67.

Bunn leads off for Chattanooga at 11:40 a.m. (ET) followed by Johnston (8:50), Robb (9:00), Fox (9:10) and Jaeger (9:20). Live scoring can be accessed on GoMocs.com on the men's golf schedule page.
NCAA Championship

May 29-June 3, 2012 • The Riviera Country Club • Pacific Palisades, Calif.
1) No. 2 Alabama 285 285 (+1)
2) No. 18 Florida 288 288 (+4)
tie) No. 4 Auburn 288 288 (+4)
4) No. 5 UCLA 289 289 (+5)
tie) Oklahoma 289 289 (+5)
6) No. 25 Iowa 290 290 (+6)
tie) No. 19 Florida State 290 290 (+6)
tie) No. 11 UNF 290 290 (+6)
tie) No. 1 Texas 290 290 (+6)
tie) No. 20 UCF 290 290 (+6)
11) No. 7 Oregon 291 291 (+7)
12) No. 10 San Diego State 292 292 (+8)
13) No. 17 Kent State 293 293 (+9)
tie) No. 9 Stanford 293 293 (+9)
15) No. 23 Georgia 295 295 (+11)
tie) No. 3 Cal 295 295 (+11)
tie) Illinois 295 295 (+11)
tie) East Carolina 295 295 (+11)
tie) Liberty 295 295 (+11)
20) No. 8 Washington 296 296 (+12)
21) UAB 297 297 (+13)
22) No. 6 Southern California 298 298 (+14)
Tie) No. 15 Texas A&M 298 298 (+14)
24) Chattanooga 299 299 (+15)
tie) TCU 299 299 (+15)
tie) Memphis 299 299 (+15)
tie) Virginia Tech 299 299 (+15)
tie) Lamar 299 299 (+15)
29) No. 16 Virginia 306 306 (+22)
tie) Tulsa 306 306 (+22)

MOCS:
T13) Liam Johnston 71 71 (E)
T98) Stephan Jaeger 76 76 (+5)
T98) Steven Fox 76 76 (+5)
T98) Chris Robb 76 76 (+5)
T98) Davis Bunn 76 76 (+5)