TEMPE -- No. 17 BYU is on the outside looking in after Friday's second round as the Cougars slipped to 16th place with a eight-under-par 280 at the 2007 NCAA West Regional.
Playing in 100 degree weather and against a talented field, the MWC Champion Cougars have struggled to get four good scores both rounds thus far. On Friday Daniel Summerhays and Clay Ogden were as hot as the Arizona desert, but scores three, four and five for BYU were quite a bit cooler. BYU's eight-under-par team score was three strokes better than Thursday, but the Cougars still moved back three spots.
"It's the wrong week to take a week off," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "The course is not that easy, but there sure are a lot of great scores out there. We're making some great shots, and the shots that aren't so good, we seem to be a little unlucky on. We've got to find a way to make more putts when we do make good shots."
With the top 10 teams advancing from the west regional to the national championship, Saturday's final round will be the deciding factor for most of the teams in the field. BYU is currently six strokes off the cut. Twelve teams are all bunched together in the middle of the pack and separated by only a couple of strokes. Only eight strokes separate two teams tied for fifth place and BYU in sixteenth place. The opportunity to advance is open for BYU, but there will be little margin for error on the final day. The Cougars were outside the cut heading into the final round of the west regional and the the third round of the NCAA championship last year. BYU came through in the clutch both times last year, and now they have a chance to make another dramatic comeback this season.
"We've got plenty of talent and we've been in this situation before," Brockbank said. "I think we are going to play together tomorrow, capitalize on our opportunities and make a run at it. Nobody's ever qualified after two rounds, so we are really going to have to step it up and play on Saturday."
Thanks to Summerhays and Ogden, the Cougars have a good chance to advance for the fourth year in a row. Ogden leads BYU at seven under par thanks to a seven-birdie effort on Friday. He carded a six-under-par 66 in the second round and is tied for 15th place individually. After going even par in the first round, Summerhays carded a 67 on Friday and is tied for 30th place individually.
BYU has advanced past the west regional for the past three consecutive years and have finished in the top 15 nationally each year. To not finish in the top 15 would be a major letdown for BYU's storied golf program that has 14 top-five NCAA finishes and 20 top-20 NCAA finishes. Unfortunately for the Cougars, they were one stroke away from earning an early morning tee time on Saturday, which could hurt their chances of advancing.
"That's one more hurdle we'll have to climb tomorrow," Brockbank said. "We're not afraid to climb it and we are very capable of advancing with an afternoon tee time."
You can follow the Cougars comeback bid live on the internet at www.golfstat.com. Current standings available on www.golfstat.com.
TEAM RESULTS
1 UCLA 268-273--541 -35
2 South Carolina 273-269--542 -34
T3 Southern California 277-273--550 -26
T3 Arizona State 275-275--550 -26
T5 Washington 284-271--555 -21
T5 East Tennessee St. 278-277--555 -21
7 Oregon State 281-275--556 -20
T8 Arizona 282-275--557 -19
T8 Stanford 277-280--557 -19
T8 New Mexico 275-282--557 -19
11 Vanderbilt 283-276--559 -17
T12 California 280-282--562 -14
T12 UNLV 281-281--562 -14
T12 Pepperdine 277-285--562 -14
T12 Wake Forest 285-277--562 -14
16 Brigham Young 283-280--563 -13
17 Colorado State 284-284--568 -8
18 Augusta State 284-285--569 -7
19 Oregon 292-281--573 -3
T20 Denver 285-290--575 -1
T20 Nevada 289-286--575 -1
22 UC-Irvine 289-288--577 +1
23 Pennsylvania 288-293--581 +5
24 San Diego State 296-289--585 +9
25 Detroit 297-297--594 +18
26 Monmouth University 302-295--597 +21
27 Bucknell University 299-299--598 +22
BYU INDIVIDUAL SCORES
T15 Clay Ogden -7 71-66--137
T30 Daniel Summerhays -5 72-67--139
T68 Robbie Fillmore -1 68-75--143
T78 Jake Ellison E 72-72--144
T118 Nick Becker +6 75-75--150