Love Tied Atop the Leaderboard; Duke Sits Fifth after First Round of NCAA Regional

MARANA, Ariz. – Duke senior William Love is tied atop the individual leaderboard, while the Blue Devils sit in fifth place in the team standings after Monday's opening round of the Marana Regional at the 2026 NCAA Men's Golf Championship at The Gallery Golf Club.

Love, who carded eight birdies en route to a 7-under-par 65, is just the third Blue Devil to register a round of 7 under par or better at an NCAA Regional, and the first to accomplish the feat since 2018.

Fellow senior Ethan Evans posted a 1-under-par 71, junior Bryan Kim shot an even-par 72 and senior Daniel Choi added a 74, helping Duke to a team score of 6-under-par 282.

After the first of three rounds, the Blue Devils are one stroke behind fourth-place Arkansas State (281) and trail third-place LSU (279) by three shots. Host Arizona and Oklahoma State are tied for the team lead at 11-under-par 277. Duke is four strokes clear of sixth-place Alabama (286).

NOTES

William Love joins Michael Schachner (-8, 2005) and Jake Shuman (-7, 2018) as the only Blue Devils to post a round of 7 under par or better at an NCAA Regional.
Duke recorded its 23rd under-par round of the season on Monday, extending the program's single-season record. The Blue Devils surpassed the previous mark of 21 under-par rounds, set in 2022-23.
The Gallery Golf Club is located northwest of Tucson and plays to a par of 72 at 7,317 yards.
The Blue Devils are making their 11th consecutive and 34th overall NCAA Regional appearance, and the program's first under head coach Bob Heintz.
The 14-team regional field includes five squads ranked in the top 30 of the latest Scoreboard powered by Clippd team rankings: No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 8 LSU, No. 18 Arizona, No. 20 Alabama and No. 29 Duke.
The Marana Regional is one of six 54-hole regional tournaments being held across the country May 18-20. Following 54 holes of stroke play, the top five teams and the low individual from a non-advancing team will move on to compete in the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, May 29-June 3.

UP NEXT

The second round of the NCAA Marana Regional begins Tuesday, May 19, at 7 a.m. MT, with the Blue Devils teeing off at 7:30 a.m. from the 10th tee.
Babygrande Golf is providing live video coverage of all six NCAA regional sites, while live scoring is available through Scoreboard powered by Clippd.

For more information on Duke men's golf, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching @DukeMGOLF.

#GoDuke