Cougars in 23rd after 36-holes at NCAA Championship

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz — Grayhawk Golf Club played extremely difficult Saturday afternoon as BYU men’s golf posted a 22-over-par 302 in round two of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship.

“It’s hard for someone who didn’t watch today’s round to comprehend how scores can be so high, when overall our guys played some really solid golf in some very tough conditions,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “I am pleased with the fight the guys showed today, but a couple of shots turned into some big numbers which may cost us a chance to play on Monday.”

The Cougars were not the only team that struggled in the second round as only two teams fired sub-par rounds. Eleven of the 30 teams in the field shot between even and 10-over-par, nine carded rounds between 11 and 20-over, with eight teams going 20 or more over par.

“You don’t play too many rounds in a year where the course is set up and plays like a major championship, but today had that feel,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “The course played really firm, the greens were fast and the winds made the hitting fairways difficult. The team made some unbelievable par saves early in the round but we didn’t keep the ball in play enough off the tee and the course wore us down causing us to make some big mistakes.”

Top ranked Oklahoma (287-275—562) was the anomaly on day two as the Sooners fired a 5-under-par round to move to 2-over for the championship and take a two-shot lead over No. 3 Vanderbilt (282-282—564) who sits at 4-over par.

No. 2 Oklahoma State (289-277—566) sits in third, two back of the Commodores at 6-over par with No. 5 North Carolina s (288-281—569) just three back at 9-over par. Defending national champion Pepperdine (294-282—576) rounds out the top-5 at 16-over par as the Championship enters the final round before the field will be cut in half.

BYU senior Carson Lundell (74-74—148) is the low Cougar posting back-to-back 74s. The 37th ranked golfer in the country made three birdies in round two. David Timmins (75-74—149) bested his first-round score by one with a second round 74 to match Lundell.

Freshman Tyson Shelley (73-76—152) followed his first round 73 with a 76 in round two. Cole Ponich (73-78—151) shot a day two 78 while Max Brenchley (76-85—161) posted a 85.

No. 41 BYU (295-302—597) sit in 23rd after 36-holes at 37-over par. To accommodate its longstanding policy of not competing on Sunday, the NCAA made provisions for BYU to play its third round of the championship on Thursday afternoon. The Cougars' score of 290 will be posted on Sunday along with the scores from the other 29-teams in the field who will play round three. 

Having already completed three rounds, BYU will wait to see if its 47-over-par, 54-hole total of 887 will be enough to advance the Cougars to the final round of stroke-play round on Monday.

“There is still an outside chance we make it to Monday,” said Miller. “But it’s hard knowing that if we would have shot 5-10 over today, we would be in a pretty good position to move on.”

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