BYU tied for first heading into final round at Watney Invitational

FRESNO, Calif. — BYU men’s golf shot a combined 554 (-14) through the first two rounds of the Nick Watney Invitational Monday to finish the day tied for first place.

"The guys played well and had a really solid second round," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "Hopefully we can keep that momentum heading into tomorrow and get the win."

Coming off a record performance at the Tucker Intercollegiate last weekend, Peter Kuest once again led the charge for the Cougars Monday. He currently sits in second place after firing a 68 (-3) in round one and a 65 (-6) in round two in his hometown of Fresno. Kuest is only one stroke behind current leader Hunter Epson of Long Beach State, who as a team is currently tied with BYU for first place.

Rhett Rasmussen had a strong second-round performance for the Cougars, shooting a 66 (-5) to put him at a combined 139 (-3) through two rounds and tied for 13th place. Carson Lundell came next for BYU, finishing the day tied for 22nd after posting rounds of 69 (-2) and 72 (+1).

Cole Ponich and Kelton Hirsch rounded out the scoring for the Cougars, finishing tied for 35th and tied for 53rd, respectively. Ponich finished the day at two-over, while Hirsch finished at four-over. Brock Stanger, competing as an individual for the second consecutive tournament, is tied for 61st after shooting a combined 147 (+5) through rounds one and two.

WCC foes San Diego, Pacific and Gonzaga were among the 14 other teams to play alongside BYU Monday. San Diego finished the day tied for fourth while Pacific and Gonzaga currently sit in seventh and 11th places, respectively.

A final round of 18 holes will be played tomorrow, with live stats and the leaderboard available at GolfStat.com.

Day One Individual Standings

*Competing as individual

Day One Team Standings (Top 6 Only)