SAN -- After 36 holes of play Monday, BYU is tied for seventh place with Georgia State University with a score of 567 (-9) on the Barona Creek Golf Course in Lakeside, Calif. BYU senior All-American Manuel Merizalde leads the Cougars with a seventh place position after two rounds.
Merizalde worked to keep himself in contention during the first round, finishing even par and tied for 34th. Merizalde catapulted into seventh place after the second round with an impressive 66, 6-under par performance. Only two shots off leader Nick Watney of Fresno State, Merizalde is in position to contend for the victory in Tuesday's final round.
"It was nice for Manuel to have a good round for us this fall," said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. "He has the capability to play that well all the time. When he gets mentally focused he makes his shots."
Jared Overton recorded scores of 71 in both rounds and Kyle Wight turned in consistent play for BYU as well, finishing with scores of 73 and 72.
"Jared has been playing well," Brockbank said. "He won the qualifying tournament coming into this event. He has been playing really consistent golf right now. His consistency has helped to offset some of the mistakes of our younger players."
Chris Graham recorded a 70 in the first round, the lowest for the Cougars, but struggled the second time around, finishing with a 76. After a disappointing 78 in the first round, Ron Harvey shot a solid 72 to help the Cougars to nine shots under par going into the last round of play.
"Manuel is right in the hunt," Brockbank said. "We'll see what happens tomorrow, but he is capable of winning this tournament."
After one day, host team San Diego State leads the tournament with a 551 (-25). The tournament is played at Barona Creek GC and plays to par 72 over 7,088 yards. The tournament marks the final fall outing for BYU.
T 7 Manuel Merizalde 72 66 138
T 28 Jared Overton 71 71 142
T 45 Kyle Wight 73 72 145
T 49 Christopher Graham 70 76 146
T 65 Ron Harvey, Jr. 78 72 150