Northwestern golfers Scott Harrington, Tom Johnson and Bjorn Widerstedt couldn’t have picked a better time to shine.

After the first day of competition at the NCAA Central regional in Little Rock, Ark., the NU trio is pulling off one of its best performances of the season. Johnson shot an even-par 72 to place 21st, Widerstedt (31st) is 1-over, and Harrington is 2-over and in 45th place.

All three are within striking distance of first-round leader Bret Guetz of Texas Christian, who shot 4-under 68 on Thursday.

The Wildcats are currently tied for 15th with Missouri at 10-over 298 and are five strokes behind 10th-place Illinois. The top 10 teams at the 27-team regional advance to the NCAA national championships.

“I’m not disappointed with where we’re at,” NU coach Pat Goss said. “It’s not like we need a miracle.”

Harrington has been NU’s hottest golfer in the past few weeks, having placed second at the Big Ten championships two weeks ago and the Kepler Intercollegiate in April.

Though he struggled at the beginning of the first round Thursday, he was able to recover in the last seven holes with three birdies.

“I really didn’t feel like I played well at all,” Harrington said. “I definitely felt like I played mediocre all day.”

But Harrington said he was pleased with his ability to come back after a bad start and end with a good score.

Johnson, who said he felt like he hasn’t been playing his best golf in the past few weeks, finally came through. He dropped five birdies and was 3-under after the first six holes.

“I felt like I was playing the way I ought to be playing,” Johnson said. “It was easy.”

Widerstedt had been struggling most of the day, but he was able to maintain a low score because of his persistent attitude, Goss said.

Chris Thayer shot an uncharacteristic 7-over 79, which hurt the Cats in their team score. He currently is in 108th place.

“There’s no way to explain how he played today, ” Goss said.

Casey Strunk, making his first regional appearance, shot an 8-over 80 and is in 114th place.

“Casey actually played pretty solidly but made a few big numbers,” Goss said.

“Unfortunately, his few mistakes were big mistakes.”

With NU only a few strokes out of the top 10, Goss said the Cats are poised to make

a climb up the leaderboard today and

Saturday.

“More often than not, your bad golf defines you,” Goss said. “The key becomes what happens when you play poorly. Hopefully, this was our poor round.”

Harrington said he and Widerstedt were impressed by the team’s performance

“I think everybody definitely has better golf today, ” Harrington said.

On top of their improved play, the Cats have really taken to the Pleasant Valley Country Club.

“Everybody loves the golf course and respects how difficult it is,” Goss said.

At last year’s NCAA regionals, the Cats were in a worse position, but they missed qualifying for nationals by only one stroke in 2001. Harrington said he thinks the Cats have nothing to worry about.

“There’s no reason for us not to be confident,” he said.