SUNRIVER -- BYU's Oscar Alvarez is tied for the lead while the Cougars stayed in third place after the second round of the NCAA West Regional at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon on Friday.
BYU, who was leading the tournament after 16 holes, had three bogies down the stretch to slip back to third place. During that same stretch New Mexico made four birdies to push them into the lead at six-under-par. The Cougars finished the day at one-over-par and are tied with Arizona State and Arizona in third place at one-under for the tournament.
"It would have been nice to finish four-under today, but I feel real good about where we are," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "We played pretty good as a team, especially Jake (Ellison) and Oscar (Alvarez)."
Alvarez continued his hot streak today going two-under thanks to three birdies and an eagle on the par four No. 8 hole. The junior first-team, All-MWC selection from Colombia held a two shot lead going into the final two holes, but boggied both to move him into a tie for first with three other individuals. If Alvarez can hang on to win tomorrow, it will be his first career victory as a Cougar.
"This is a really challenging and tricky course and Oscar has been playing super all tournament long," Brockbank said.
Freshman Jake Ellison also had a stellar day as his 16 pars and 2 birdies helped him finish two --under-par and move him into a tie for 21st place individually. Ron Harvey Jr. added another solid score of two-over to put him at one-over for the tournament and in a tie for 26th place. Junior Todd Miller moved from 25th place to 41st place after a three-over 75 in the second round. First-team All-MWC Greg Machtaler struggled with his second consecutive five-over 77.
During the critical second round BYU played well enough to be in position to win the tournament, but with only 12 strokes separating first and tenth place, the margin for error for the Cougars in round three is relatively small. Instead of worrying about making the top 10 and advancing to the NCAA finals, Brockbank said their focus is to come out and win the tournament.
"Our guys are ready to go," Brockbank said. "We came out here to win this thing and if we make some putts and get some momentum tomorrow I think we can do it."
The top 10 teams advance to the NCAA Men's Championship on June 1-4 at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va. BYU last advanced to the Championship in 2000 and finished seventh in the NCAA finals in 1999.
Fans can follow the Cougars in the final round live on the internet at www.golfstat.com as BYU we tee off approximately 9:30 a.m. MST.
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. New Mexico 284-286--570 -6
2. UCLA 283-288--571 -5
T3. Brigham Young 286-289--575 -1
T3. Arizona State 286-289--575 -1
T3. Arizona 288-287--575 -1
T6. California 301-277--578 +2
T6. Toledo 286-292--578 +2
8. USC 286-294--580 +4
T9. San Diego St. 287-296--583 +7
T9. Washington 293-290--583 +7
11. Colorado St. 297-290--587 +11
12. Central Florida 296-293--589 +13
T13. Pepperdine 292--298--590 +14
T13. UC Riverside 293-297--590 +14
15. UNLV 300-292--592 +16
16. Furman 299-294--593 +17
17. NC Wilmington 294-300--594 +18
18. UTEP 307-293--600 +24
19. Long Beach St. 299-305--604 +28
T20. Coast. Carolina 301-304--605 +29
T20. Denver 300-305--605 +29
T22. New Mexico St. 297-309--606 +10
T22. Stanford 298-308--606 +10
24. UC-Irvine 303-308--611 +35
25. La-Monroe 308-314--622 +46
26. Loyola College 316-315--631 +55
27. Wright State 305-332--637 +61
BYU's Individual Scores
T1 Oscar Alvarez 69-70--139 -5
T21 Jake Ellison 74--70--144 E
T26 Ron Harvey Jr. 71-74--145 +1
T41 Todd Miller 72-75--147 +3
T100 Greg Machtaler 77-77--154 +10