PROVO -- The BYU men’s golf team battled through rainy conditions Friday at the Riverside Country Club in Provo, Utah, to place second after two rounds of the PING Cougar Classic. Senior Robbie Fillmore led the way for BYU at 7-under on the day to tie for second.
“We were a little frustrated at the start of our first round because we didn’t handle the conditions very well, but we finished strong at the end of the round,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “In the second round, we battled hard and made some birdies, which got us back in the hunt. This is a resilient team and we’ll keep fighting.”
With morning rain showers making for wet first-round conditions, BYU shot a combined 293, 5-over-par, on the first 18 holes. But when the skies cleared as the afternoon wore on, the Cougars made their move and put themselves in position to defend the PING Cougar Classic title they won last year. BYU posted the best score of round two at -9 (279) to finish the day -4 (572), three strokes behind No. 40 Colorado State. The top five was rounded out by Idaho (E), No. 8 Augusta State (+2) and No. 11 UNLV and Nevada (+4).
Fillmore played consistently throughout the day, going -3 in round one and -4 in round two. He tied with two other players for second place, two shots back of Augusta State’s Patrick Reed. Fillmore posted 11 birdies on the day and only four bogeys. He played particularly well on the back nine, going a combined -7 between the two rounds.
Cougar freshman Zac Blair also placed in the top 15 on the day at even par, which actually tied him for 14th place. As was the case with most of the field, Blair improved as the day wore on, going +2 on round one and -2 in round two. Blair finished the day with four birdies in his final five holes.
Sophomore Jordan Rodgers was just two strokes behind Blair at +2 on the day to tie for 29th place. Rodgers was also over par in round one (+3) but came on strong in round two at -1 with five birdies. Senior Brady Johnson went 3-over-par with rounds of +5 and -2 and posted six birdies throughout the day to tie for 32nd. Rounding out the Cougars was junior Esteban Calisto at +7 with six birdies.
Round three will begin Saturday with tee times starting at 8:30 a.m. MT. Live stats for the tournament can be found at http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=1993