SUNRIVER,Ore. (April 29, 2002) -- After a cold and windy first round of the 2002 MWC Championships, BYU sits in second place and three strokes behind leader UNLV at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.
The Cougars were led by senior All-American Manuel Merizalde who fired a one-under 71. Merizalde, coming off a 16th place finish at the PING Cougar Classic sits in third place behind first-round leader Mark Warman of San Diego State, who shot a single-round MWC Championships record four-under 68. Sophomore Devin Heid continues to be impressive shooting even par and in a tie for fifth place. True freshman Ron Harvey Jr. finished one-over 73 and Greg Machtaler shot three-over 75.
"I'm excited about where we are at after the first round," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "We really got off to a great start and 291 is a pretty good score when you're playing against 30 m.p.h. winds. We're in a good position and I'm pleased with how our guys performed today."
UNLV fired a team-low 288 to claim the first-round lead while four other teams, including BYU are in a log jam behind the Rebels. Four teams are within five strokes of the lead with BYU (291), New Mexico and Air Force (292), and San Diego State (293) applying pressure. Wyoming 296, Utah (298) and Colorado State (301) round out the field.
"I'd like to see us come out tomorrow and play tough," Brockbank said. "It will be a good experience for our guys to play with the leaders."
Second round begins at 10 a.m on Tuesday while the third and final round will be played on Wednesday. Last season the Cougars were in second place after the first round only to go on and claim the 2001 MWC Championship.
Team Standings Scores
1. UNLV 288
2. BYU 291
3. New Mexico 292
Air Force 292
5. San Diego St. 293
6. Wyoming 296
7. Utah 298
8. Colorado St. 301
Individual Scores
1. Mark Warman, San Diego State 34-34 68
2. Michael Letzig, New Mexico 38-32 70
3. Manuel Merizalde, BYU 33-38 71
Clark Corbett, UNLV 35-36 71
5. Martin Laird, Colorado State 34-38 72
Luke Swilor, Utah 35-37 72
Ryan Moore, UNLV 37-35 72
Mike Mezei, Wyoming 34-38 72
J.C. Deacon, UNLV 35-37 72
Devin Heid, BYU 38-34 72
Madalitso Muthiya, New Mexico 36-36 72
BYU Individual Scores
t3. Manuel Merizalde 71
t5. Devin Heid 72
t12. Ron Harvey Jr. 73
Greg Machtaler 75
Kyle Wight 77