Cougars hover in 13th at ASU Invitational

TEMPE -- They knew it would be tough, but they didn't know it would be this tough.

The No. 12-ranked BYU men's golf team, top-five finishers all season long, shared 13th place with Washington on Friday after two rounds at the 32nd annual ASU Thunderbird Invitational. If they fail to move up in the standings, the streaking Cougars, who have been third best or better in their last three outings, will have their lowest finish of the season.

Host ASU dominated the action Friday. The Sun Devils, who won their 2003 tournament after shooting a whopping 40-under-par, are in an advantageous position to do so again this year, holding a 10-stroke lead over second-place New Mexico and riding the stellar play of Alejandro Canizares (65-66--131), who is 13-under-par after just two rounds.

However, California's Peter Tomasulo stole the show with a course-record 61 in the first round of play.

"There was some incredible golf played here today," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said.

For the Cougars (288-289--577), Oscar Alvarez, whose 72.0 stroke average is second-lowest on the team, continued to put up outstanding scores Friday with 70-67--137 through two rounds.

"It's nice to see Oscar playing with so much confidence," Brockbank said.

Besides Alvarez, sophomore Clay Bingham was two-over par at 73-73--146. Juniors Greg Machtaler and Todd Miller shot 75-72--147 and 77-77--154, respectively. Freshman Jake Ellison, back from a minor injury that kept him out of last week's Border Olympics in Texas, shot 70-80--150. Freshman Clay Ogden, competing as an individual, shot 71-75--146.

Brockbank said he expects his team to rebound from Friday's frustrations and to make better decisions on Saturday.

The Thunderbird Invitational drew a tough field of 15 teams, including eight clubs that are ranked in the top 25 in the latest Golf Coaches Association poll. They are the following: ninth-ranked Arizona, fifth-ranked Arizona State, No. 11 UNLV, No. 12 Brigham Young, No. 16 California, No. 17 New Mexico, No. 20 USC, and No. 22 Washington. Other clubs also competing are: Texas Tech, Pepperdine, Oregon State, Oregon, Texas-El Paso, San Diego State, and Stanford.

The Thunderbird, hosted by ASU, is played at the ASU Karsten Course, a par-72 course that measures 7,027 yards.

ASU Thunderbird Invitational      Tempe, Ariz.
April 9                           Karsten Course   
Par: 72                           Yardage:  7,027
 
Fin.   Name                       Score
T 13   Brigham Young              288-289--577  (+1) 
T 10   Oscar Alvarez              70-67--137    (-7)
T 51   Clay Bingham               73-73--146    (+2)
T 58   Greg Machtaler             75-72--147    (+3)
T 71   Jake Ellison               70-80--150    (+6)
T 81   Todd Miller                77-77--154    (+10)
T 51  *Clay Ogden                 71-75--146    (+2)
   
*Competed as an individual
      
Fin.   School                     Score 
  1    Arizona State              270-278--548  (-28) 
T 2    New Mexico                 273-285--558  (-18) 
T 2    Arizona                    273-285--558  (-18) 
T 2    Southern California        277-281--558  (-18) 
  5    Pepperdine                 280-279--559  (-17) 
  6    Arizona State-Maroon       275-285--560  (-16) 
  7    California                 275-289--564  (-12) 
  8    Texas Tech                 278-288--566  (-10) 
  9    Texas-El Paso              291-276--567  (-9) 
  10   UNLV                       282-286--568  (-8) 
  11   Oregon                     287-286--573  (-3) 
  12   Stanford                   296-280--576  (E) 
T 13   Washington                 278-299--577  (+1) 
T 13   Brigham Young              288-289--577  (+1) 
T 15   San Diego State            293-285--578  (+2) 
T 15   Oregon State               283-295--578  (+2)
 
Fin.   Top 20 Players         School                 Score 
  1    Alejandro Canizares    Arizona State          65-66--131  (-13) 
T 2    Peter Tomasulo         California             61-72--133  (-11) 
T 2    Kendall Critchfield    Arizona State-Maroon   63-70--133  (-11) 
T 4    Michael Putnam         Pepperdine             68-67--135  (-9) 
T 4    Ryan Moore             UNLV                   67-68--135  (-9) 
T 6    Brock Mackenzie        Washington             67-69--136  (-8) 
T 6    Chez Reavie            Arizona State          66-70--136  (-8) 
T 6    Oscar Floren           Texas Tech             64-72--136  (-8) 
T 6    Joshua Wooding         Southern California    66-70--136  (-8) 
T 10   Zack Miller            Stanford               71-66--137  (-7) 
T 10   Oscar Alvarez          Brigham Young          70-67--137  (-7) 
T 10   Chris Nallen           Arizona                66-71--137  (-7) 
T 10   Charlie Beljan         New Mexico             69-68--137  (-7) 
T 14   Chris Baryla           Texas-El Paso          71-67--138  (-6) 
T 14   Nathan Tyler           Arizona                66-72--138  (-6) 
T 16   Ben Hayes              Southern California    67-72--139  (-5) 
T 16   Randy Creighton        Pepperdine             69-70--139  (-5) 
T 16   Brad Simpson           Oregon State           67-72--139  (-5) 
T 19   Spencer Levin          New Mexico             66-74--140  (-4) 
T 19   Nico Bollini           Southern California    73-67--140  (-4) 
T 19   Travis Whisman         UNLV                   68-72--140  (-4) 
T 19   Pat Moore              Arizona State-Maroon   68-72--140  (-4) 
T 19   James Allenby          Texas-El Paso          73-67--140  (-4) 
T 19   Chris Pace             Texas Tech             70-70--140  (-4)