CARLSBAD, Calif. | Nick Clinard made it clear following his team's first round of the NCAA Championships: the Tigers didn't play up to their standards.

"We just didn't play very well overall," the head coach said. "We had three rounds under par, and anytime you had to count a three-over, you're not going to be leading in this type of field at the national championship."

The No. 1 overall seed started hot with a birdie by Cayden Pope on No. 10. Auburn reached all the way to five-under before some rare miscues down the stretch. Brendan Valdes led the way for the Tigers, shooting a three-under 69. He birdied No. 11 before bogeying No. 13 but rebounded with birdies on No. 15 and 18 to make the turn with a 34.

Valdes started the front nine (the Tigers started on the back) with a birdie on No. 1 and 4. He had back-to-back birdie puts on No. 7 and 8 but could not get them to fall. He seemed to question how the ball didn't drop on the former.

"I just must've misread it or something," Valdes said. "Or maybe it bumped out of the way. I'm not sure. But I thought it was going in when I hit it, and it did not go in."

Overall, the senior was pleased with how he played.

"I felt really good about today," Valdes said. "I played pretty good. It was consistent golf, making birdies where I can. It's a tough golf course, so just trying to plot around and eliminate the big numbers."

Jackson Koivun had an up-and-down round, putting up five birdies but had bogeys on No. 12 and 17 with a double bogey on No. 15 to finish one-under. Josiah Gilbert joined his fellow sophomore at one-under while Carson Bacha (+3) and Pope (+5) struggled.

With the Tigers having the early tee time tomorrow (the first golfer goes off at 6:30 a.m. PT), Clinard is confident his team will come out firing.

"We're really good, and we got our bad round out of the way today, and we'll be ready to go tomorrow morning," Clinard said.

Auburn currently sits tied for fourth at -2 going into Saturday.