Cougars Grab Lead at Desert Shootout

GOODYEAR, Ariz –The BYU men’s golf team roared to a first-place standing after a season best 14-under 274 first round at the Desert Shootout on Thursday.

“Everybody got off to a great start,” said BYU assistant coach Todd Miller. “We jumped right out at the gate.”

Four Cougars are in the top 30 with junior Zac Blair leading the way in second. Blair birdied eight times, tied for the most of any player on the day, and sits just two strokes out of first place.

Sophomore Justin Keiley is right behind Blair, tied for fourth after a first round 5-under 67. Most of his success came on par-5 holes, where Keiley shot 4-under on the day.

Rounding out the next two spots for BYU were sophomore Jordan Hammer and freshman Cole Ogden. Hammer is tied for 11th while Ogden is tied for 27th. This is the first time all season that the Cougars have had four players shoot so well in a tournament.

“Our problem has been slow starts,” Miller said. “It’s tough to try and grind it back to par. Hopefully we can keep this going for the next two rounds.”

The second round will be played tomorrow and the tournament will conclude on Saturday.