Cougars Finish Second at Desert Shootout

Day 1 Recap

Day 2 Recap

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – After two solid rounds of golf, the BYU men’s team faltered, taking second place at the Desert Shootout on Saturday.

Sophomore Justin Keiley (9-under 207), junior Zac Blair (8-under 208) and freshman Cole Ogden (7-under 209), placed third, tied for fourth and tied for sixth, respectively, in the individual competition to lead the Cougars.

“We didn’t play very well today,” BYU coach Bruce Brockbank said. “We started off really sloppy and made a lot of mistakes.”

BYU finished the 54-hole tournament with a 26-under-par 838 total, two shots behind champion Wichita State. Denver placed third, 14 shots off the pace at 850 with Kansas State and San Diego tied for fourth at 856.

Keiley’s third place finish is his highest this season, though he struggled in the final round, shooting a 3-over-par 75.

Blair shot a final round 3-under-par 69 on the final 18 holes played Saturday, while Ogden carded the second best score for the Cougars with a 2-under-par 70.

“Having guys ranked third, fourth and sixth always means you’re going to be in the hunt but we just didn’t get it done,” Brockbank said. “I’m proud of how the guys battled. They didn’t give up, but bogies killed us in the end.”

Other Cougar scores included Jordan Hammer at 218 (69-73-76) and Adam Tebbs at 220 (75-69-76).

As a team, BYU scored a 2-over 290 in Saturday’s final round. Wichita State posted a final round of 16-under 272 to move past the Cougars in the final standings.

The Desert Shootout is the second of three tournaments in Arizona for the Cougars. BYU next takes to the course on April 6 when it competes in the ASU Thunderbird in Tempe.