Cougars hold five shot lead with 18 to play at WCC Championship

BREMERTON, Wash. — No. 44 BYU men’s golf fired a 15-under-par second round to lead the West Coast Conference Championship through 36 holes while Zac Jones leads the individual championship by one, entering the final round at 9 under par.

“The team has played really well on a very demanding golf course the first two days,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “We really capitalized on our birdie and eagle opportunities today which allowed us to post a good number and hold the lead with 18 to go. If we can keep ourselves out of trouble and continue to make putts, we will be in a good position going into tomorrow.”

The Cougars (285-273—558) posted the low round of the tournament, a 15-under 273, on day two of their final WCC Championship to move to 18 under par and take a five-shot lead into the final round on Saturday.

No. 46 San Francisco (282-280—563) sits in second at 13 under par with No. 6 Pepperdine (284-280—564) one-shot back at 12 under. Santa Clara (288-289—577) and Loyola Marymount (288-289—577) round out the top five in a tie for fourth at 1 over par.

After sitting in third after round one, Zac Jones (69-66—135) posted a 6-under 66 to vault himself into the solo lead with 18 holes to play. Jones’ scorecard only had two blemishes as he made six birdies and an eagle on the day.

“Zac is extremely good at preparing for each tournament and course we play,” said Miller. “This course allows him to hit a lot of drivers off the tee which, with his length, makes the course play short. His distance control and course management have been great and he has been rolling the rock nicely.”

Max Brenchley (70-67—137) sits two shots behind Jones at 7 under par, in solo third after a 5-under 67 on Friday. The big lefty carded seven birdies with only two bogeys to move into the top-3 entering the final round.

Carson Lundell (71-71—142) is just outside the top 10 as he holds a share of 11th with one round to play. The senior posted back-to-back rounds of 71 including three birdies and an eagle to sit at 2 under par through 36 holes.

Tyson Shelley (76-69—145) carded five birdies and an eagle en route to a 3-under 69 to move 18 spots up the leaderboard into solo 18th. David Timmins (75-72—147) rounded out the scoring for the Cougars with an even-par 72 to grab a share of 24th entering the final day.

The Cougars last took home the WCC Championship in 2017 when BYU took down No. 22 Pepperdine by seven shots at Riverside Country Club in Provo. Peter Kuest also took home individual honors in 2017 by shooting 11-under par.

Individual Leaderboard

Team Leaderboard (Top 5)*

*9-Team Field