Ole Miss ended Round 1 of the 2026 SEC Championships in first place with a 15-under opening round. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss ended Round 1 of the 2026 SEC Championships in first place with a 15-under opening round. | Ole Miss Athletics

Rebels Open SEC Championship with One of Best Rounds in Event History

BY Taylor Hodges

Ole Miss showed up ready for the moment on Monday, and the scoreboard reflected it. Behind matching 6-under 64s from Cameron Tankersley and Cohen Trolio, the No. 12 Rebels jumped out to the top of the SEC Championship leaderboard after the opening round with a 265 total at 15-under. Four players finished under par, and the group looked comfortable from the start.

That 265 is not just a hot start. It is the second lowest opening round in SEC Championship history and one of the best rounds ever posted at the event. Ole Miss did not sneak into the lead. The Rebels took it.

Tankersley set the tone early. He birdied four of his first six holes and turned at 4-under, then kept the momentum going with two more birdies through 12. He added another at the par-5 seventh before giving one back at the eighth, but he closed with a steady par to finish off a 64. It was his 10th round in the 60s this season and his 15th under-par round overall.

Trolio matched him with a 64 of his own. He made the turn at 2-under, then caught fire on the back nine with a clean, bogey-free 31 coming in. It was his 14th round under par this year and his seventh in the 60s. Both Rebels head into round two tied for second.

Tom Fischer kept his strong stretch going with a 2-under 68, his seventh straight round under par. After a shaky start, he settled in and rolled off three straight birdies to get himself back in red numbers. Fischer now leads the team in almost every consistency metric this season, including 23 rounds of even or better and 20 rounds under par.

Freshman Daniel Tolf posted a 1-under 69 in his SEC Championship debut, and Collins Trolio finished with a 73.

Ole Miss also led the field in par-3 scoring and total birdies, a good sign for a team trying to build on a fast start.

Round two begins Thursday at 7 a.m. CT, and the Rebels will try to keep the momentum rolling.

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