Blair and Keiley in Top 10 as Cougars Finish Fifth

Day 1 Recap

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – Solid golf from its top players and two top-10 finishes helped the BYU men’s golf team to tie for fifth place after the final round of competition at the North Ranch Intercollegiate on Tuesday.

Junior Zac Blair and sophomore Justin Keiley played great final rounds, giving the Cougars two top-10 finishes for the first time this season.

“Zac is always on his game,” said BYU coach Bruce Brockbank. “He could’ve won the tournament, but gave a couple of shots away. To have Justin get his first top-10 shows you the type of talent he has.”

Keiley, who finished tied for seventh, was the most consistent player in the field on the final day. After shooting an even par on the front nine, Keiley had a bogey on hole No. 10 before a birdie on No. 12 and again on No. 16.

His 1-under 69 was tied for the best round of the day. The birdie on hole No. 12 was Keiley’s third of the tournament, also matched by Blair.

Blair’s day was much more sporadic. He shot six birdies on the day, but still finished with a 1-over 71.  It was still enough to help Blair place sixth, his third top-10 finish this season.

While Blair and Keiley played well, the rest of the Cougars had a hard time finishing. Adam Tebbs finished tied for 39th, McCoy Willey finished tied for 56th, and Patrick Fishburn tied for 66th.

“We’re really struggling to get scores from our three, four and five guys,” Brockbank said. “Once we get those scores special things will happen. We’re hitting some great shots, but we mix in some poor ones as well, every round.”

The fifth place finish is BYU’s best this season. The Cougars will be back in action on March 5 when they travel to Fresno, Calif. for the Fresno Lexus Invitational.