BYU's Andy Miller in his final home tournament as a Cougar shot a third round 63 to slip past BYU sophomore Manuel Merizalde by one stroke to win the Ben Hogan Cougar Classic at Riverside Country Club on Saturday.
BYU finished first, second and third individually as well as capturing the team title by 24 strokes after shooting 273-273-275--821 (-43). This was the sixth-ranked Cougars' seventh tournament victory this season.
After the first two rounds the three-time All-American Miller was six strokes behind the leader Merizalde. But on the final eighteen holes Miller was on fire shooting six consecutive birdies on the back nine. Merizalde had a chance to send the tournament to a tiebreaker but his ten-foot putt just missed the cup. Miller's nine-under-par final round was one off the Riverside Country Club course record 62 and was BYU's first individual championship this season. Junior Scott Miller of BYU finished third after shooting 70-67-70--207 (-9).
Finishing behind the Cougars was No. 12 New Mexico and No. 10 Fresno State. BYU prepares next for the Mountain West Championships in Palm Springs, California on May 1-3
2000 Ben Hogan Cougar Classic Team Standings
1. BYU273-273--275--821
2. New Mexico282-287--276--845
3. Fresno State277-291--291--859
4. San Diego St.289-292--284--865
5. Tulsa296-287--285--868
6. Wyoming286-297--289--872
6. Colorado St.290-292--290--872
8. Hawaii289-293--291--873
9. Air Force289-294--296--879
9. Utah295-293--292--880
11. Nevada296-297--289--882
12. Weber State295-301--297--893
13. So. Utah293-296--311-900
13. Boise State297-299--304--900
15. Utah State314-303--305--922
Individual Standings
1. Andy MillerBYU69-69-63--201 (-15)
2. Manuel MerizaldeBYU66-66-70--202 (-14)
3. Scott MillerBYU70-67-70--207 (-9)
4. Scott HailesNew Mexico70-71- 67--208 (-8)
5. Michael LetzigNew Mexico71-68-71--210 (-6)
6. Martin MaritzTulsa72-71-69--212 (-4)
7. Nigel SpenceColo. St.74-70-69--213 (-3)
(t) Scott PiercySDSU69-72-72--213 (-3)
9, Wil CollinsNew Mexico70-75-69--214 (-2)
(t) Nick WatneyFresno St.68-72-74--214 (-2)
11. Ryan EllisUtah73-71-71--215 (-1)
(t) Jose GarridoBYU68-73-74--215 (-1)
13. Lars JohanssonSDSU75-72-69--216 (E)
(t) Danny VisoskyAir Force71-71-74--216 (E)
(t) Mike HaackNevada71-70-75--216 (E)
(t) Kevin PriceNew Mexico71-75-70--216 (e)
(t) Norman-Ganin AsaoHawaii71-74-71--216 (E)
18. Luke SesteroBoise St.71-72-74--217 (1)
(t) Todd EakerTulsa72-70-75--217 (1)
(t) Jeff ScohySDSU74-73-70--217 (1)
22. Danny PanicciaFresno St.72-75-71--218 (2)
(t) Todd MillerBYU75-71-72--218 (2)
(t)Jacob HunterWyoming72-76-70--218 (2)
25. Ryan KingFresno St.74-73-72--219 (3)
(t) Scott Young Weber St.73-77-69--219 (3)
(t) Mike UrbatchkaWyoming77-69-73--219 (3)
(t) Todd RoseFresno St.69-76-74--219 (3)