TUCSON, Ariz.--BYU's eighth-ranked Cougars warmed up in the desert shooting a tournament best third round 281 to recover from their cold first round to finish sixth at the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate.
Billy Harvey led the Cougars by firing a final round 67 and going seven-under-par for the final 45 holes. Harvey finished in 14th place despite shooting a season high 77 in the first round.
"This was definitely one of the toughest courses I've played while at BYU," Harvey said. "Coming out of the winter break, it's hard to play a course like this one."
The Raven at Sabino Springs challenged the rusty Cougars from the start. This unforgiving desert course lined with cacti and bushes caused BYU to lose numerous shots in the rough during the first two rounds. But in the final round the rust wore off and the Cougars played to their potential with four golfers shooting par or below.
The Cougars who were in 18th place after the first round shot a 285, the tournament's third best second round, to vault them into 11th place. Thanks to senior Scott Miller's eagle-birdie-birdie finish, BYU was able to earn a respectable sixth place finish.
"Sixth place isn't a fantastic finish, but when you consider where we came from, that says a lot about the mental toughness of this team," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "I was pretty pleased with the last two rounds and our ability to rebound from a disappointing start."
Junior Manuel Merizalde, who shot a second -round 69 finished in 23rd place followed by Miller in 41st and Jess Hibler in 54th.
BYU will take a couple of weeks off before heading to Hawaii to compete in the Waikoloa Intercollegiate on the Big Island on Feb. 15-17.
Team Finish
1. Southern California 276-275-282--833 -19
2. California 286-284-285--855 +3
3. Arizona State 862-281-295--862 +10
Ohio State 283-287-292--862 +10
5. South Carolina 290-291-282--863 +11
6. BYU 305-285-281--871 +19
7. Pepperdine 297-291-282--872 +20
8. Arizona 297-286-290--873 +21
9. Oregon 290-295-289--874 +22
10. Oregon State 292-292-291--875 +23
11. Arizona JV 297-291-292--880 +28
Texas-El Paso 300-291-289--880 +28
Mississippi 295-300-285--880 +28
14. UCLA 303-290-289--882 +30
15. California-Irvine 297-297-294--888 +36
16. Stanford 293-301-295--889 +37
17. Washington 303-290-305--898 +46
18. Arkansas 314-292-295--901 +49
19. Long Beach St. 301-306-298--905 +53
20. New Mexico St. 320-309-319--948 +96
BYU Individual Finish
t15 Billy Harvey 77-70-67--214
t23 Manuel Merizalde 75-69-72--216
t41 Scott Miller 75-76-70--221
t54 Jesse Hibler 82-71-72--225
t80 Ollie Nissinen 78-75