Jones leads; Cougars in third after darkness suspended round two

TUCSON, Ariz. — Zac Jones had a career day as BYU men’s golf sits in third after darkness suspended play during the second round of the Arizona Intercollegiate on Monday.

“Zac has been playing some great golf this spring,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “We know he can get hot. We’ve been waiting for him to break out in collegiate golf and today was a big step in that direction. Zac had one of the best days on the greens I’ve witnessed as a coach, and it was a lot of fun to watch.”

Jones got off to a blistering start as he carded seven birdies in his first nine holes, including five straight on holes 9-13, to take the solo lead through nine holes. After three bogeys, the sophomore closed with three more birdies, giving him 10 for the day. His 7-under 65 in round one notched his BYU career low and put him one shot back of Arizona’s Johnny Walker who held the first-round lead at 8-under.

“Really, everything was on today,” said Jones. “I hit my driver great, hit a couple of irons and wedges close, chipped in once and made lots of putts. If there’s one thing that stands out though, I would have to say, my putter. The greens were pure, especially in the morning and I love their speed, so it seemed like every putt I hit had a chance to go in.”

Through 12 holes in round two, Jones has carded two birdies, an eagle and a lone bogey to grab a share of the overnight lead at 10-under par. Chaz Aurilia and Cal McCoy of Arizona and Jack Cantlay of Long Beach State each hold a share of the lead with Jones.

No. 11 Texas A&M holds the team lead at 26-under-par through 30 holes with No. 22 Arizona just four back at 22-under. BYU is knotted with Cal at 15-under for third while Long Beach State sits in fifth at 12-under.

"I was impressed by our team's performance today," said Miller. "This has been a difficult winter for collegiate golfers in Utah. Usually, we get a fair amount of winter golf in and we have some kind of idea of how we will start the spring. I really didn’t know what to expect from our guys today but they handled it well."

David Timmins sits in the top 25 after 30 holes at 3-under par. The senior posted a 3-under 69 in the opening round and is even through 12 holes of round two. Keanu Akina is two back of Timmins at 1-under-par in a tie for 27th.

All-American Carson Lundell is tied for 35th after day one and looks to make a move as play resumes tomorrow. Tyson Shelley rounds out the Cougars’ day one scoring at 2-over as he sits in a tie for 48th.

Round two will resume at 9 a.m. MST with play continuing immediately into the final round. Live scoring is available at golfstat.com.

Individual Leaderboard

*Thru 12 holes of round two

Team Leaderboard (Top 5)

*15-Team Field