No. 23 Cougars tied for third with one round to go at Pasatiempo

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — No. 23 men’s golf (348-348–696) closed out Tuesday’s play at 4-under par and tied for third in the 79th Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club. 

“We had a lot of highs and lows today which is very indicative of a round of golf at Pasatiempo, especially when you have six guys on the course,” director of golf Todd Miller said. “We went on a crazy run of birdies on holes 7-13, and then we hit a wall. We have done a very good job at managing some of the crazy things that happen on this course, but our poor finish today definitely left us scratching our heads.”

The Cougars’ 2-under-par day two equaled their round-one score from Monday. As a team, BYU carded a 15-birdie stretch from holes 7-13. 

USC (350-334–684) posted a 16-under-par second round, 11 strokes better than the next best score, to put itself in the lead at 16-under par. The Trojans jumped six spots on the leaderboard in addition to two of their players sitting first and second overall with one round to go. Cal (343-345–688) concluded the day at 12-under par and in second through 36 holes. Chattanooga (350-346–696) and UNLV (344-353–697) carded a 4-under par through two days on the 6,493-yard course to be in a three-way tie with the Cougars and cap off the top-5.

Kihei Akina (67-69–136) put up a 1-under par on the day and holds a share of sixth at 4-under par. Akina extended his streak of rounds below 70 to seven, and now has 15 of 17 rounds below that mark in the spring season. The two-time individual winner had a four-birdie run from holes 6-10.

“I think I started really well,” Akina said in his post-round presser. “I hit it well off the tee and was putting really well. I made a couple hiccups coming in, but I felt overall the game was pretty good. We’re going to have to put out a low one tomorrow.”

Simon Kwon (69-68–137) finished one stroke behind Akina and tied for eighth at 3-under par with 18 holes left. Kwon went bogey-free outside of a bogey on hole 15 to go along with three birdies on the front nine. The senior is on track for his sixth top-10 finish and fourth straight top-15 finish.

Peter Kim (69-69–138) replicated his 1-under-par score from his first round to be tied for 15th at 2-under par. Kim is currently on pace for his fourth top-15 finish of the season. 

Tyson Shelley (71-71–142) wrapped up his day tied for 35th at 2-over par, with Angus Klintworth (72-71–143) a stroke behind him and tied for 42nd. 

Jackson Mauss (72-74–146) finished Tuesday with a share of 57th at 6-over par. 

“USC will have a large lead on us going into the final round but if we get rolling again there is a chance you could see a big swing,” Miller said. 

“I need to make some putts and keep the ball in the fairway,” Akina said. “The thing I need to improve on is controlling my distances, especially with my wedges. Controlling your distance around here is key.”

The Cougars tee off the final round of the event on Wednesday at 12:40 p.m. MDT. Live coverage on the Golf Channel starts at 5 p.m. MDT, with live scoring updates on Scoreboard and more updates on Instagram and X accounts.