Provo, Utah --BYU's men's golf team shot 30-under-par after two rounds to hold a 22 shot lead heading into Saturday's third and final round at the Ben Hogan Cougar Classic.
BYU was led by sophomore Manuel Merizalde who shot a sizzling 66-66--132 to hold a five stroke lead over teammate Scott Miller who shot a 70-67--137. Merizalde's nailed putt after putt and sank a bunker shot on the eighteenth hole.
"Manuel stepped up and set the pace for us today," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "I was hoping we could do this today and we did it. We've shot a lot of good scores at Riverside this year and for us to do that in big tournament says a lot about the character of these guys."
Individually, the Cougars hold the top three spots and four of the top six spots after two rounds. Senior Andy Miller is in third place after shooting 69-69--138 and senior Jose Garrido's two round 138 puts him in sixth place overall.
Brockbank credits team depth as the reason for the Cougars success.
"When your sixth man (Scott Miller) can shoot low enough scores to be in second place after two rounds, you know we've got depth," Brockbank said. "I don't have to motivate these guys. That's the beautiful thing about depth. Andy wants to come back tomorrow and beat Manuel, Jose wants to come back and challenge Scott. Everybody's very competitive on the team and that's the reason why we have been so successful."
Second round action of the Ben Hogan Cougar Classic begin Saturday at 8 a.m. and should finish around 3:30 p.m. at the Riverside Country Club in Provo, Utah.
1. BYU273-273--546
2. Fresno State277-291--568
3. New Mexico282-287--569
4. San Diego St.289-292--581
5. Hawaii289-293--582
5. Colorado St.290-292--582
7. Wyoming286-297--583
7. Air Force289-294--583
7. Tulsa296-287--583
10. Utah295-293--588
11. So. Utah293-296--589
12. Nevada296-297--593
13. Weber State295-301--596
13. Boise State297-299--596
15. Utah State314-303--617
1. Manuel MerizaldeBYU66-66--132
2. Scott MillerBYU70-67--137
3. Andy MillerBYU69-69--138
4. Michael LetzigNew Mexico71-68--139
5. Nick WatneyFresno St.68-72--140
6. Jose GarridoBYU68-73--141
(t) Mike HaackNevada71-70--141
(t) Scott HailesNew Mexico70-71--141
Scott PiercySDSU 69-72--141
10. Mike LoudenFresno St.71-71--142
Todd EakerTulsa72-70--142
Danny VisoskyAir Force 71-71--142
13. Martin MaritzTulsa72-71--143
Jeff ScohyAir Force72-71--143
Luke SesteroBoise St.71-72--143
16. Nigel SpenceColo. St.74-70--144
(t) Ryan EllisUtah73-71--144
18. Dustin VolkWeber St.74-71--145
(t) Wil CollinsNew Mexico70-75--145
(t) Todd RoseFresno St.69-76--145
(t) Darrin OversonColo. St.70-75--145
(t) Tommy SharpColo. St.73-72--145
(t) Josh WatneyFresno St.69-76--145
(t) Norman-Ganin AsaoHawaii71-74--145
25. Gregg OliphantUtah74-72--146
(t) Mike UrbatchkaWyoming77-69--146
(t) Todd MillerBYU75-71--146
(t) Kevin PriceNew Mexico71-75--146
(t) Aaron HansenSouthern Utah74-72--146