WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV men's golf senior Caden Fioroni used a hot start at Pepperdine's Southwestern Invitational to jump to a four-shot lead after the first round Monday at North Ranch Country Club (Par 71, 6,800 yards).

Fioroni, a native of La Jolla, California, fired off seven birdies on his final eight holes - including six consecutive from holes No. 2-7 - en route to tying the program record for lowest round with a 9-under 62. He matched former Rebel All-American Shintaro Ban's school record set in 2017 at Arizona State's Thunderbird Invitational - which also was played on a par-71 course.

As a team, the Scarlet & Gray combined to shoot a 5-under to sit in third place within two shots of Texas Tech (-7) in the lead and one shot of USC (-6) in second.

Joining Fioroni as the Rebels' second individual in the top 25, junior Trevor Lewis finished the afternoon in a tie for 25th with an even-par 71. Behind them in the Scarlet & Gray lineup are seniors Ben Sawaia (+2) and senior Yuki Moriyama (+2) in a tie for 44th, as well as sophomore Brett Sawaia (+9) in 74th. Playing as an individual, freshman Phillip Kench (+8) is tied for 72nd.

In a three-way tie for second, the Red Raiders' Tyran Sanders, the Trojans' Nicolas Dominiguez and Cal's Aaron Duo each shot a 5-under 66 as the next closest competitors to Fioroni.

OTHER NOTES:

• Fioroni's score was within one shot of the course record of 61 by Texas' Jacob Sosa, which came during the opening round of the same tournament last year.