Marquette Third After BIG EAST Opening Round

OKATIE, S.C. - Hunter Eichhorn and Matt Murlick led Marquette with 3-over-par 75s, tied for seventh, while the top-seeded Golden Eagles are five strokes behind leader Creighton and in third place after opening round play at the BIG EAST Men's Golf Championships at Callawassie Island G.C. on Friday.

Eichhorn and Murlick, who finished 1-2 at last year's championships, had the low rounds for Marquette on a day where scores were high throughout the field.

Steady winds around 20 miles per hour made conditions tough - no player finished under par on the Par 72, 7,003-yard course, while the average individual score was 78.33 in the 45-man field.

Marquette's 15-over-par opening round 303 was its highest single round score of the season - the eighth-seeded Bluejays' 10-over-par 298 paced the way in round one.

Both Eichhorn and Murlick had their best play on the front nine - Eichhorn went out at even par, while Murlick was 1-under-par with birdies on No. 4 and 6.

The Golden Eagles made 10 birdies to share the tournament lead, and went 3-under-par on Par 5 holes. Marquette's 54 pars are second-most behind Butler's 60.

Bradley Keyer of Creighton, the No. 4 player for the Bluejays, leads the championships by a stroke after an even par 72.

MU's five players will enter Saturday within six strokes of the top spot - 27 players in the field are at 6-over-par or lower.