EL MACERO, Calif. – With six birdies on his scorecard, Matthew Sutherland is tied for eighth through Round 1 at the El Macero Classic. The junior is five shots back of San Francisco's Matthew Anderson for the lead and two strokes out of second.
Even on the front nine, Sutherland picked things up on the back, especially late. Opening his back nine with a birdie at No. 10, the junior sank three in the final five holes including back-to-back to finish the round.
Behind under-par front nine scores from Jake Bettencourt (-3) and Matthew Manganello (-1), the 'Dogs were 1 under at the turn. While Sutherland knocked in four birdies on the back, his 3 under couldn't keep Fresno State under par.
The Bulldogs slipped back to 1 over for the day. Sitting in 10th and seven shots off the lead, the 'Dogs are in the exact position they were a year ago after Round 1 before winning the tournament by one stroke.
Manganello spent much of the day under par following an eagle on No. 5. Falling back to even after a bogey at No. 16, the junior closed his round with a birdie on 18 and is tied for 15th.
Fresno State will begin teeing off Round 2 at 9:35 a.m. PT tomorrow.
Fresno State scoring
T8. Matthew Sutherland -3 (69)
T15. Matthew Manganello -1 (71)
T41. Jake Bettencourt +1 (73)
T70. Joseph Lloyd +4 (76)
T81. Jake Aberle +5 (77)