Noren, whose only European Tour victory was at the European Masters in 2009, had a mixed start with three birdies, two bogeys and a double -- and he faces a long birdie putt at the ninth when he returns on Sunday morning.
The Tar Heels (52-8) take on fourth-seeded Canisius (42-15) on Friday evening after second-seeded Florida Atlantic (39-20) faces third-seeded Towson (29-28) in the opener of the double-elimination regional.
After some years of double-digit growth (during which a complacent government signally failed to cool the economy), Latvia faces a 5% or greater contraction in GDP next year.