HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kihei Akina (63-71-67–201) carded a 3-under-par third round to sit one shot off the lead in the Big 12 Men’s Golf Championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club on Tuesday.
No. 23 BYU men’s golf (280-282-286–848) sits at 8-over par and in a tie for sixth through three rounds of play.
“I think our players and coaches are frustrated with how things went today,” director of golf Todd Miller said. “We all know what this team is capable of doing, and we had a tough time staying in the process today and hitting the shots we normally hit.”
Oklahoma State (279-267-275–821) maintained the top spot at 19-under par, and a Cowboy holds the individual lead as well. Arizona (281-272-277–830) finished off Tuesday in second at 10-under par, with three Wildcats in sixth or better. TCU (281-280-278–839) concluded its first 54 holes in third at 1-under, followed by Texas Tech (282-277-282–841) in fourth at 1-over par. Kansas (289-286-268–843) showed out with a 12-under-par day to climb three spots and to sit inside the top 5.
Akina, the 7th-ranked golfer in the nation, ended the day two strokes behind Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout, who holds the 54-hole lead at 9-under par. During the freshman’s round of 3-under-par on Tuesday, Akina came out of the gates strong with four birdies from holes 2-7. Akina birdied hole 18 to remain within striking distance with 18 holes to go.
“I hit the ball well again,” Akina said. “I’ll give it my best go tomorrow for my team and see if we can make a move up the leaderboard.”
Simon Kwon (72-72-72–216) concluded his day tied for 41st overall at 6-over par with one round to play. Kwon stayed consistent by carding his third consecutive round of 2-over par.
Jackson Mauss (73-69-75–217) completed his first 54 holes at 7-over par and in a tie for 45th.
Peter Kim (75-72-72–219) and Tyson Shelley (72-70-77–219) both sit at 9-over par through two days of the conference tournament and hold a share of 52nd place.
“Tomorrow presents a great opportunity for us to find a way to move up the leaderboard,” Miller said. “I believe the guys are in the right mindset to get that done.”
The Cougars tee off the final round at Prairie Dunes Country Club on Wednesday at 7 a.m. MDT. Live coverage of the round will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 10:30 a.m. MDT. Leaderboard standings will be updated on Scoreboard, with live updates on Instagram and X.