BYU Heads to Final Day of Tournament in Second Place

TUCSON, Ariz. – The BYU men's golf team finished the second round of the National Invitational Tournament at Omni Tucson National Golf Club in second place on the strength of junior Zac Blair's 10-under-par performance on the day.

With a 4-under-par 572 team score in the opening two rounds played Friday, BYU trails San Diego State by six strokes heading into the final round on Saturday.

Blair led all golfers after round one, shooting a 7-under-par 65, to lead the Cougars to third place going into the second round.

Blair began the day with a bogey but quickly found his stroke, finishing the round with eight birdies. In his final six holes of the round Blair recorded five-straight birdies before finishing with a par on his last hole. Blair was not the only BYU golfer who shot under par in round one as Adam Tebbs finished the first 18 holes shooting 1-under 71 to tie him for eighth overall.

The Cougars shot 4-under 284 in the first round to put them in a tie for third place with SMU, placing the two teams just two shots off the lead.

In round two, Blair found himself on par in each hole with the exception of three in which the Ogden, Utah, native birdied. Blair recorded just one more stroke than leader J.J. Spaun of SDSU at the end of the day for his 10-under 134 score on Friday. Meanwhile, Blair’s teammate Justin Keiley concluded the day in a tie for ninth place individually by shooting 1-under 143, including a second-round 70 to complement Blair's 69 over the second 18. As a team, BYU finished the second round at even-par 288.

The Cougars will tee off on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. PST as they look to take the lead in the final round of the Invitational. Live stats can be found online at www.golfstat.com.