Cougars drop to 20th at NCAA's

ALBUQUERQUE -- BYU shot its second consecutive 13-over-par 301 to drop to 20th place heading into Saturday's final round of the 2002 NCAA West Regional.

True Freshman Ron Harvey Jr. continues to lead the Cougars after shooting a three-over 75. Harvey is tied for 29th place individually while teammate and fellow freshman Greg Machtaler, who was even par in the second round, is tied for 47th.

Senior Manuel Merizalde was tied for 36th after the first round, but struggled in the second round shooting a seven-over 79 and falling to 87th place. Kyle Wight shot three-over 75 in the second round and is tied with Merizalde at nine-over par.

The top 10 finishers of the 2002 West Regional advance to next week's NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio. With BYU 13 strokes behind 10th place Pepperdine, the Cougars must face a daunting challenge in order to hope to advance.

"We need to play some amazing golf on Saturday for us to have any hope," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "We've just kind of dug ourselves in a hole."

Although BYU didn't earn a berth to the Championships last season, the Cougars finished 2nd at the West Regional in 2000 and 7th at the NCAA Championships in 1999. The Cougars have qualified for the NCAA Championships five times since 1990 and have 18 top-10 finishes at the championships since 1969.

Fellow Mountain West Conference member UNLV leads the 27-team field by one stroke over Fresno State. The Cougars have beat both of these teams in different tournaments during the season.

The third and final round will take place Saturday at the University of New Mexico Championship Course.

FIRST ROUND TEAM SCORING

1. UNLV +6 290-292--582

2. Fresno State +7 290-293--583

3. Washington +8 291-293--584

T4. Arizona +4 292-293--585

T4. San Diego State +9 289-296--585

T6. UCLA +8 296-292--588

T6. Texas +12 285-303--588

T6. Minnesota +12 290-298--588

T6. New Mexico +12 293-295--588

T10. Pepperdine +13 292-297--589

T10. Pacific +13 294-295--589

T12. Nevada +16 299-293--592

T12. Oregon +16 300-292--592

14. Ohio State +17 295-298--593

15. California +18 308-286--594

16. Texas Tech +19 298-297--595

17. USC +21 294-297--595

18. Washington State +22 302-296--598

19. Stanford +24 303-297--600

20. BYU +26 301-301--602

21. Arizona State +30 304-302--606

22. Illinois State +31 301-306--607

23. Colorado State +34 314-296--610

24. UC-Irvine +37 307-306--613

25. Detroit Mercy +38 302-312--614

26. IUPUI +50 315-311--626

27. Central Conn. St +53 313-316--629

BYU INDIVIDUAL SCORES

T29. Ron Harvey Jr. +3 72-75--147

T47. Greg Machtaler +5 77-72--149

T87. Manuel Merizalde +9 74-79--153

T87. Kyle Wight +9 78-75--153

T126. Devin Heid +14