Lundell and Jones shoot up leaderboard, BYU in 13th

SAN FRANCISCO — After shooting 4-under-par on Friday, BYU men’s golf jumped into a tie for 13th through 36 holes of the Goodwin at TPC Hardin Park, with Carson Lundell and Zac Jones inside the top 25 individually.

“The guys did what they needed to do today,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “They capitalized on the par 5s, playing them 7-under as opposed to 1-over yesterday, and avoided making any big numbers. We aren’t in the position we had hoped for this week, but I’m happy that we jumped 12 teams today.”

After shooting a disappointing 2-over in the opening round, Carson Lundell recorded four birdies and a bogey to shoot 67 and move into a tie for 16th after the second round. Just five shots off the lead, Lundell has positioned himself to chase his sixth top-25 finish and fourth top-10 of the season.

“Carson has been steady with his ball striking and wedge game this week,” said Miller. “His putting hasn’t been as good as it normally is on these relatively slow greens but I’m impressed with how patient he’s been, knowing that putts will start to drop if he just stays the course.”

Zac Jones made the biggest jump up the leaderboard of any player on day two as he turned in a 5-under 65 to move 86 up spots into a tie for 25th going into the final round on Saturday. The sophomore carded five birdies, an eagle to fire the low round of the tournament and position himself just six shots off the 36-hole lead.

“Jones continues to impress me by shooting his best scores on some of the toughest courses we play,” said Miller. “He keeps learning and improving and he hit a lot of great shots today. Along with his five birdies, his 65-yeard hole out for eagle on No. 4 was really cool to watch.”

No. 11 Georgia Tech (277-270—547) sits at 13-under-par to edge No. 13 Oklahoma (275-273—548) by one going into the final round. San Diego (284-270—554) is in third at 6-under with No. 8 Stanford (273-283—556) in fourth at 4-under, while San Francisco (280-278—558) completes the top 5 at 2-under.

For BYU, Max Brenchley has posted rounds of 74-71—145 to sit in a tie for 78th through 36 holes. Tyson Shelley, who is competing as an individual, and Keanu Akina both sit at 7-over with rounds of 75-72—147 for Shelley and 74-73-147 for Akina. David Timmins rounded out the scoring for the Cougars with scores of 74-74—148.

The Cougars will be the last groups off in the afternoon wave of the final round tomorrow and will tee it up with Cal Poly, Colorado and Washington State beginning at 1:05 p.m. PDT. Live scoring is available at golfstat.com.