Rodgers leads BYU to 4th place at Jones Invitational

Day 1 Recap

VALENCIA, Calif. - A top-10 finish from senior Jordan Rodgers led BYU men's golf to fourth place at the Jones Invitational on Tuesday.

"We needed the kind of performances we saw today," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "The guys hung in there pretty well today, and it's a step in the right direction. We played a really tough golf course and still finished in the top five. We will go home, go to work and continue to improve."

After ending the first two rounds in a tie for fifth place, the Cougars moved up one spot to finish the tournament in a tie for fourth (+14) with Sam Houston State. USC remained in first place throughout the whole tournament, taking home the top prize. Host and West Coast Conference member Pepperdine took sixth place (+15). Other WCC teams San Diego and Pacific finished in ninth (+23) and 13th (+34), respectively.

Rodgers led the team by shooting one-under-par, including two rounds of 71, to end the tournament in a tie for sixth.

"I made some key putts coming down the stretch and was able to close out well," Rodgers said. "We beat some teams which were ranked ahead of us in this tournament, so hopefully this will give us some confidence to keep finishing higher. I think we are going to be a sleeper team in the next few tournaments."

With another top-20 finish, senior Cole Ogden finished in a tie for 15th, shooting two-over-par. Junior Tommy Higham also had a solid tournament, shooting six-over-par and tying for 27th.

Shooting 12-over-par, senior Mike Jurca ended in a tie for 52nd. Not far behind, freshman Zach Pritchard finished in 59th place, shooting 14-over-par.

BYU will return to action on March 9-10 at the Lampkin San Diego Classic. Live stats will be available on the BYU men's golf schedule page.

Jones Invitational - Feb. 24, 2015