Blair Finishes Second, Cougars Fourth at Arizona's National Invitational Tournament

Day 1 Recap

TUCSON, Ariz. – The BYU men's golf team finished fourth in the 12-team National Invitational Tournament that concluded Saturday at Omni Tucson National Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz. 

Junior Zac Blair (11-under 205) and sophomore Justin Keiley (2-under 214) placed second and tied for third, respectively, in the individual competition to lead the Cougars. 

BYU finished the 54-hole tournament with a 5-over-par 869 total, 10 shots behind NIT champion San Diego State. UNLV placed second just one shot off the pace at 860 with SMU in third at 863. Memphis followed the Cougars in fifth place at 871, while the hometown Arizona Wildcats placed sixth at 882.

"Zac played extremely well and Justin was shooting some scores for us out there," BYU coach Bruce Brockbank said. "It was nice to be in contention. We had our chances playing with some good teams. We will see if we can keep improving as we continue to gain experience as a team."  

Blair and Keiley each shot rounds of 1-under-par 71 on the final 18 holes played Saturday on the 7,219-yard Catalina Course layout. Blair played all three rounds under par for his 11-under 65-69-71–205 finish that was second only to the 15-under 201 tally posted by San Diego State’s J.J. Spaun. 

Keiley tied for third with Jonathan Fly of Memphis at 2-under 214 with rounds of 73, 70 and 71. Other Cougar scores included Adam Tebbs at 221 (71-74-76), Patrick Fishburn at 229 (75-75-79) and McCoy Willey at 230 (75-75-80). Playing as an individual, BYU's Jordan Hammer tied for 16th overall at 78-66-74–218.

As a team, BYU scored a 9-over 297 in Saturday’s final round. UNLV and SMU each posted a final round of 1-under 287 to move past the Cougars in the final standings.  To see complete results go to www.golfstat.com.

The NIT is the first of three tournaments in Arizona for the Cougars. BYU next takes to the course in the Desert Shootout in Goodyear, Ariz., starting Thursday before returning for the ASU Thunderbird in Tempe from April 6-7.