PROVO -- A strong second-round effort by the BYU men’s golf team led to a seven-stroke lead over a 14-team field after two rounds as the Cougars play host of the 2009 PING Cougar Classic.
BYU holds the lead at 17-under-par with Idaho trailing closely behind at 10-under. The Cougars shot seven strokes lower in the second round than the first.
“We’re excited to be in the lead after two rounds,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “After playing mediocre in our last two tournaments, we wanted to come out and play better and I thought we played consistently today. A 17-under day isn’t too bad.”
Sophomore Esteban Calisto leads the team in the rankings as he is currently tied for third place at 7-under-par. He shot an impressive 7-under 65 (BYU career low) in the second round after an even-par first round effort.
Brady Johnson also enjoyed consistent rounds as he is in fifth place at 6-under-par. He followed a 4-under first round with a 2-under 70 second round for his position in the field of 78 golfers.
“Brady and Esteban played great golf today,” Brockbank said. “Brady shot that 68 in the first round and Esteban did great with a 65 in the second round. They both helped a lot to get where we are right now.”
Three Cougars are tied for 16th place at 1-under-par. Robbie Fillmore, Nick Killpack and Jordan Rodgers all finished the day at 1-under as each had one round under par 72. Fillmore played a 1-under first round, while Killpack and Rodgers had 2-under and 1-under rounds, respectively.
For the first time this season, all members of the team competed, with three Cougars playing as individuals. Stephen Archibald is in ninth place overall at 2-under, while Jordan Hammer and Daniel Reid finished at 2-over and 5-over, respectively. Archibald and Hammer each had one round of 2-under 70, while Reid played a 1-over 73 in the second round.
“We hope to keep it up Saturday,” Brockbank said. “This is why we play – to play under pressure and play one stroke at a time. If we do that, we can find a way to win this thing.”
Round three will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, with the Cougars set to begin at approximately 9:12 a.m. Results can be found on www.byucougars.com.