No. 24 men’s golf ties Iowa State, Arizona State to conclude pool play at Big 12 Match Play

SALT LAKE CITY — No. 24 men’s golf tied Iowa State and Arizona State 2.5-2.5 in the second and third rounds of Big 12 Match Play on Tuesday at The Country Club.

The Cougars finished pool play 1-0-2 after defeating Utah 3-2 on Monday and tying Iowa State and Arizona State on Tuesday. BYU will face Kansas State in Wednesday’s consolation round, with a chance to finish tied for fifth.

“Our match against Arizona State was a big deal for us,” head coach Todd Miller said. “They are always one of the top teams in the country, and if we are going to win a national championship, we need to prove to ourselves that we belong. I was very pleased with how we handled the pressure, and I am proud of our team. We were a half-point away from making it to the semifinal match.”

Round Two vs. Iowa State

After entering Tuesday tied 1-1 with Iowa State, BYU completed its three remaining individual matches to finish the second round tied 2.5-2.5.

Sophomore David Liechty defeated Drew Hensen 2 and 1, winning back-to-back holes to close out the match after entering the final four holes tied.

Freshman Drake Harvey erased a 2-down deficit with three holes remaining against Dianchao Wu, winning two of the three holes to halve the match.

Iowa State’s Ben Wheeler defeated sophomore Cooper Jones 1 up.

 

 

 

 

 

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Round Three vs. Arizona State

After weather delays pushed the third round into the afternoon, BYU tied Arizona State 2.5-2.5 to conclude pool play.

Sophomore Kihei Akina defeated Boston Bracken 1 up, recording seven birdies. Bracken took an early lead with two eagles and two birdies, but Akina responded with consecutive birdies on Nos. 12-13 and 15-16 to take a 1 up lead before securing the victory.

Harvey defeated Oscar Couilleau 5 and 3, recording eight birdies, including two stretches of three consecutive birdies.

Liechty halved his match with Connor Williams, while Arizona State’s Bowen Mauss and Nguyen Anh Minh defeated Parker Bunn and Jones 5 and 4 and 4 and 3, respectively.

BYU will face Kansas State on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. MDT. The winner of the match will finish tied for fifth with the winner of the Arizona-Kansas match, while the loser will finish tied for seventh.

Live scoring is available at scoreboard.com. Matchups and hole assignments are listed below.