TUCSON -- BYU's men's golf team went 18-under-par during Monday's second round to move into second place at the PING Arizona Intercollegiate at Arizona National golf course in Tucson.
The No. 11 Cougars got off to a slow start, but had a brilliant second round before play was suspended due to darkness with two holes to play. After the first round BYU was in sixth place at one-under-par and trailed host Arizona by 11 strokes. During the second 18 holes the Cougars warmed up. Behind the play of Daniel Summerhays and Jake Ellison, the No. 24 ranked golfer in the nation, BYU made a run at Arizona and cut their lead to just four strokes. The Cougars' 18-under second round was nine strokes better than any other team in the field.
"For being a snow school we showed a lot today," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "That second round shows you the caliber of this team and what we're made of. We're making a lot of putts on a challenging golf course
BYU individuals hold four out of the top 15 spots in the tournament field with Ellison and Summerhays leading the way at six-under-par and tied for fifth place.
Summerhays finished the first day with an amazing stretch of six consecutive birdies. In his first season back off an two-year LDS church mission, Summerhays has begun to play the kind of golf that earned him 2003 MWC Freshman of the Year honors. The sophomore from Farmington was one-over after the first round, before his impressive a seven-under-par second round. Summerhays has one hole left to play in the second round.
Ellison also has one hole remaining in the second round. He was even after one, but caught fire at the start of round two. He had four consecutive birdies to start the second 18 holes and finished the day at six-under-par.
Clay Ogden, the USGA Publinks champion, led the tournament at six-under-par after 24 holes, but was one-over on his last nine holes. Ogden is still in good position at three-under for the tournament and tied for 15th place.
2005 All-American Oscar Alvarez got on a roll at the end of the second round. The senior from Colombia finished the day with five consecutive birdies and ended the day tied for 15th place with one hole left to play in the second round.
Junior Nick Becker had a solid finish after struggling in the first round. He ended the day with four birdies on his last eight holes and finished with a three-under-par second round.
Playing against eight teams ranked in the nation's top 40, BYU positioned itself well heading into Tuesday's final round. BYU leads 10th-ranked Arizona State by five strokes and conference rival No. 31 New Mexico by 13 strokes.
"I would love to beat these guys down here," Brockbank said. "I know this team would like nothing more than to beat some of these teams tomorrow."
"Our confidence is pretty high and we know what kind of team we are," Alvarez said. "We need to go out tomorrow and finish it up."
You can follow the final round live on the internet at www.golfstat.com
BYU Individual Scores
T5. Jake Ellison -6
T5. Daniel Summerhays -6
T15. Clay Ogden -3
T15. Oscar Alvarez -3
T47. Nick Becker +4
TEAM RESULTS
1. Arizona -23
2. BYU -19
3. Arizona St. -14
4. Arizona (B) -11
5. New Mexico -6
6. Texas -4
6. Pepperdine -4
8. Tulsa -3
9. Texas A&M +6
10. Denver +10
11. New Mexico St. +11
12. UC-Irvine +13
13. UTEP +24
14. Cal +28
15. Oregon State +28
16. Oregon +32