Alvarez paces BYU at PING Preview

SUNRIVER -- Oscar Alvarez's final round four-under-par paced No. 7 BYU to a 10th-place finish at the prestigious PING/Golfweek Preview at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. on Wednesday.

During the final round, the Cougars fell back as far as 13th place, but played the back nine three-under-par, including four birdies over the last three holes to end the tournament nine strokes out of the top 5 teams.

"It's an honor to play in this tournament against such a great field, but we aren't satisfied with the result," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "Our expectations were a lot higher. This will motivate our team to narrow the gap over the course of the season."

Considered one of the top college tournaments of the regular season, the PING/Golfweek Preview hosts fourteen teams ranked in the nation's top 20. Nine of the top 10 teams in the country are competing in the Preview this year. Although the Cougars finished in 10th place they still out played four Top-10 teams including Pac-10 powerhouses USC and Arizona State.

Defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Georgia ran away with a 15 stroke victory at 19-under-par while No. 6 Georgia Tech finished second at four-under-par. Second-ranked Oklahoma State finished third at two-under-par and MWC rival UNLV finished fourth at three-over-par.

After playing at Sunriver for the past five years in the MWC Championship, BYU felt it knew the course well. But with the top teams coming to town for the Preview, Sunriver gave itself a tougher look.

"This course was set up tougher than we've ever seen it," Brockbank said. " The greens were hard and firm and the pin placement was extremely challenging."

Junior Oscar Alvarez showed he is among the top golfers in the nation after finishing tied for 16th place thanks to a stellar 68 in the final round. Jake Ellison shot a final-round 75 to fall back into a tie for 22nd place at three-over-par. Nick Becker, who won his last tournament at Sunriver, finished tied for 39th at seven-over par. Clay Ogden had two birdies over his last four holes to end the day with the team's second-best final round, a one-over 73. Ogden finishes tied for 59th while recently-returned missionary Daniel Summerhays finished the tournament tied for 43rd.

TEAM SCORES
1. Georgia          284-284-277--845  -19
2. Georgia Tech     294-284-282--860  -4
3. Oklahoma State   297-283-282--862  -2
4. UNLV             290-292-285--867  +3
5. Duke             297-289-283--869  +5
6. Kentucky         291-292-288--871  +7
7. Augusta State    295-286-294--875  +11
8. Washington       298-288-290--876  +12
9. New Mexico       296-287-294--877  +13
10. BYU             297-290-291--878  +14
11. Arizona State   292-299-289--591  +16
12. Wake Forest     296-292-294--882  +18
13. Auburn          305-293-289--887  +23
14. USC             304-297-293--894  +30
15. Portland        315-303-307--925  +61
BYU INDIVIDUAL SCORES
T16. Oscar Alvarez     74-73-68--215  -1
T22. Jake Ellison      73-71-75--219  +3
T39. Nick Becker       73-75-75--223  +7
T43. Daniel Summerhays 78-71-75--224  +8
T59. Clay Ogden        77-78-73--228  +12