Machtaler Matches Nation's No. 1 Golfer in Hawaii

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS -- Greg Machtaler led the 10th-ranked BYU men's golf team to a fourth-place finish with his performance at the 2005 John A. Burns Intercollegiate, shooting some of his best rounds of the season (68-66-69) and earning second-place honors.

The final round of the tournament found Machtaler paired with the nation's two best collegiate golfers: New Mexico's Spencer Levin (No. 1) and UNLV's Ryan Moore (No. 2).

"[Moore]'s one of the greatest players I've seen," Machtaler said. "He's amazing on the greens. I certainly learned a lot watching him play during this tournament."

Machtaler, No. 29 in the nation, finished this year's tournament shooting 13 under par. He finished seven strokes back of tournament champion Moore and in a tie for second place with Levin. Machtaler's second-place finish and tournament score (203) marks his second best finish and tournament score of his collegiate career.

"I think it was a great experience for Machtaler," said head coach Bruce Brockbank. "He held his own through the entire tournament. He really stepped up and played great golf."

The final round presented some surprises for the golfers as they battled light wind and scattered showers throughout the day.

BYU came out strong and played well through 15 holes in the final round before the rain dampened the Cougars' hopes for a title, as they ended the final round with a 6-under-par 282, just one stroke shy of third-place Arizona.

"We played decent," Brockbank said. "We were right there at the end, but we let some shots slip away from us. The competition was really close through 15. We just finished a little sloppy."

The Cougars' Oscar Alvarez had a strong showing at this year's event, shooting a final-round 71 and finishing the tournament seven under par. Ron Harvey, Jr. made significant improvements over the three days, dropping two strokes each day and finishing at three under par, while Jake Ellison shot a 73 in the final round and ended at 1 under par. Todd Miller played well in the first two days, but ran into trouble in the final round scoring a 76 and ending the tournament three over par.

Playing as individuals, sophomore Nick Becker attracted some attention as he shot a career-best 6-under-par 210 and tied for 17th place, while Clay Ogden struggled in the final round, shooting a 77 and finishing four over par.

BYU (839) finished behind first-place No. 4 New Mexico (833), second-place No. 16 UNLV (835) and third-place No. 31 Arizona (838), but managed to hold a two-stroke lead over fifth-place No. 5 Auburn (841).

The Cougars travel to Thousand Oaks, Calif. for the Cleveland Golf Classic Feb. 28-March 1.

Leilehua Golf Course - Par 72 - 6,916 yards

TEAM RESULTS (Top 15 of 22 universities)

1. New Mexico 274-275-284--833

2. UNLV 274-282-279--835

3. Arizona 278-275-285--838

4. BYU 286-271-282--839

5. Auburn 283-281-277--841

6. SDSU 280-280-283--843

7. Texas Tech 280-280-284--844

8. Texas A&M 292-278-278--848

9. SMU 286-276-292--854

10. Denver 292-280-285--857

11. UC Santa Barbara 294-288-283--865

12. Colorado St. 281-289-297--867

T13. Hawaii 288-287-294--869

T13. San Jose St. 291-289-289--869

15. Utah 293-290-292--875

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

1. Ryan Moore UNLV 67-65-64--196 (-20)

T2. Greg Machtaler BYU 68-66-69--203 (-13)

T2. Spencer Levin New Mexico 65-67-71--203 (-13)

T2. Justin Madison San Jose St. 68-67-68--203 (-13)

T15. Oscar Alvarez BYU 73-65-71--209 (-7)

T28. Ron Harvey, Jr. BYU 73-71-69--213 (-3)

T40. Jake Ellison BYU 73-69-73--215 (-1)

T64. Todd Miller BYU 72-71-76--219 (+3)

T17. Nick Becker* BYU 73-67-70--210 (-6)

T70. Clay Ogden* BYU 73-70-77--220 (+4)

* Competing as individuals