BYU's fifth-ranked men's golf team had a difficult final round finishing fourth at the Mountain West Conference Men's Golf Championship in Palm Desert, Calif. at the PGA West Nicklaus Tournament.
"We had another rough day," Brockbank said. "We started out well and then in a matter of a half-hour we went from three-under par to eight over par thanks to a quadruple bogie and six or seven double bogies."
Despite the Cougars' lackluster performance at the Conference Championships, BYU's Bruce Brockbank was named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year and two Cougars were named to the All-Mountain West Conference Team. Senior Andy Miller and Sophomore Manuel Merizalde were both named to the team. For Merizalde this was his second All-Conference selection in as many years. Andy Miller earned All-Conference honors for his fourth consecutive year.
Merizalde was the low Cougar after shooting a final-round 72 to finish at four-over-par. Andy Miller and Billy Harvey tied for fifteenth place after finishing 6-over-par.
The Cougars now look to put the MWC Championship behind them and concentrate on the NCAA Western Regionals to be held in Fresno, Calif. at the Riverbend Golf Course on May 18-20.
"This has been a very average week for the Cougars," Brockbank said. "We'll evaluate our performance and hopefully bounce back in Fresno."
1. UNLV 280-286-279--845 (-19)2. New Mexico 296-288-284--868 (+4)
3. Colorado State 287-283-300--870 (+6)
4. BYU 296-280-301--877 (+13)
5. San Diego State 308-286-303--897 (+33)
6. Utah 308-297-294--899 (+35)
7. Wyoming 302-298-306--906 (+42)
8. Air Force 309-311-301--921 (+57)
BYU INDIVIDUALS
t11. Manuel Merizalde 76-70-72--218
t15. Andy Miller 73-70-77--220
t15. Billy Harvey 72-72-76--220
t19. Scott Miller 75-68-79--222
25. Todd Miller 82-73-76--231
All-Mountain West Conference Team
Andy Miller, BYU, Sr.
Jeremy Anderson, UNLV, Sr.
Nigel Spence, Colorado State, Sr.
Manuel Merizalde, BYU, So.
Scott Piercy, San Diego State, Jr.
Michael Kirk, UNLV, Sr.
MWC Golfer of the Year
Jeremy Anderson, UNLV
MWC Golf Freshman of the Year
Michael Letzig, New Mexico
MWC Coach of the Year
Bruce Brockbank, BYU
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
The inaugural Mountain West Conference Championships will be held May 1-3 at the PGA West Nicklaus Tournament Course in Palm Desert, California. No. 5 BYU is the top ranked team in the Mountain West Conference followed by No. 9 UNLV and No. 13 New Mexico. Also participating will be Colorado State, Utah, Air Force, Wyoming, and San Diego State.
TUNING UP FOR THE MWC TOURNAMENT
BYU tuned up for the Mountain West Conference Championships by winning the Ben Hogan Cougar Classic by 24 strokes on April 20-21. The Cougars finished 43-under-par shooting 273-273-275--821. Several Cougars set personal records during the tournament. Andy Miller's 201 and Manuel Merizalde's 202 were personal bests for a 54-hole tournament. Miller's final-round 63 was his lowest round as a Cougar and one stroke away from the course record at Riverside Country Club in Provo, Utah. Merizalde shot a personal best 66 in the first and second rounds of the Cougar Classic.
BYU'S WINNING WAYS
By winning last weekend's Ben Hogan Cougar Classic, BYU maintained its lead over the rest of the nation for the most tournament victories on the season. BYU has won six tournaments and one match play tournament for a total of seven victories on the season. BYU is currently ranked No. 5 in the GolfWeek poll and No. 8 in the MasterCard poll.
MR. CAPTAIN
Senior Captain and three-time All-American Andy Miller continues to lead the Cougars in almost every statistical category. Miller collected BYU's first individual victory of the season by beating teammate Manuel Merizalde at last weekend's Ben Hogan Cougar Classic. Miller shot a sizzling third-round 63 to come from six strokes behind to win his final home tournament as a Cougar. Miller was also named the McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Player of the Week and finished with the conference's lowest stroke averageon the season. This was the second time Miller has recieved this honor this season. Miller is currently ranked No. 10 among NCAA men's golfers. Miller who was the 1996-97 WAC Champion as a freshman hopes to win a second conference championship
BYU'S TRIPLE THREAT
Competing in the inaugural Mountain West Championships for BYU will be Andy, Scott and Todd Miller all sons of former PGA great and current NBC golf announcer Johnny Miller. This unique triple-threat has been a major reason for No. 5 BYU's success this season. Each is ranked among the top 100 golfers in the NCAA and among the top 20 golfers in the Mountain West Conference.
1999-2000 Top Ten Finishes Top-20 Finishes
Andy Miller 7 8
Manuel Merizalde5 8
Scott Miller 3 4
Billy Harvey 2 6
Todd Miller 2 4
Jose Garrido 1 4
Master Card Individual Collegiate Golf Rankings
No. 10-Andy Miller
No. 36-Manuel Merizalde
No. 63-Billy Harvey
No. 64-Scott Miller
No. 79-Todd Miller
BYU'S ACE CARD--DEPTH
Another huge reason for BYU's success this season has been the outstanding depth. Among BYU's top six golfers, the Cougars have collected 34 top-20 finishes on the season.
"From one through six we are as good as anybody in the country," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "These guys compete hard and there is no complacency on this team because everyone is fighting to get into that top five. Even among our top five, everyone of them feels they should win every tournament they play in. They all want to win and that's makes for some tough competition among the team."
In the Ben Hogan Cougar Classic the Cougars finished first second and third. Andy Miller finished first, Manuel Merizalde second and Scott Miller third.
"When your sixth man (Scott Miller) can shoot low enough scores to be in third place, you know we've got depth," Brockbank said. "I don't have to motivate these guys. That's the beautiful thing about depth.
1999 WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
At last year's WAC Championships in Pebble Beach California freshman Manuel Merizalde led wire-to-wire to win medallist honors. BYU defeated No. 2 ranked UNLV to win its first conference championship since 1995. BYU's Andy Miller, Billy Harvey and Manuel Merizalde were named to the All-Conference team.
1999 WAC CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Jose Garrido 75-73-78--226/16th
Billy Harvey 69-83-83--235/49th
Manuel Merizalde69-70-74--213/1st
Andy Miller 76-72-72--220/4th
Scott Miller 72-75-76--223/7th
BYU'S STARTERS FOR 2000 MWC CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Andy Miller Sr.
2. Manuel Merizalde So.
3. Scott Miller Jr.
4. Todd Miller So.
5. Billy Harvey Jr.
Current Rankings 4/27/00
GOLFWEEK RANKINGS
1. Georgia Tech
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma State
4. Georgia
5. Brigham Young
6. Arizona State
7. Houston
8. Northwestern
9. UNLV
10. Fresno State
11. Arizona
12. Auburn
13. New Mexico
14. North Carolina State
15. Duke
16. North Florida
17. Augusta State
18. Texas
19. South Carolina
20. Florida
MASTERCARD RANKINGS
1 Georgia Tech
2 Clemson
3 Georgia
4 Oklahoma State
5 Arizona State
6 Northwestern
7 Fresno State
8 Brigham Young
9 Houston
10 Arizona
11 Augusta State
12 UNLV
13 Florida
14 New Mexico
15 North Carolina State
16 Auburn
17 North Florida
18 Stanford
19 Kent
20 South Carolina
1999-2000 Season ResultsDate Tournament Score Finish/Teams Best Individual Sep 21-23 Topy Cup 307-295-602 3rd/11 Merizalde Garrido
Oct 1-2 Tucker Inv. 283-283-290-856 1st/18 Merizalde
Oct 11-12 Red River Cl. 281-282-279-842 6th/15 Todd Miller Oct 15-16 Fresno Lexus Cl.342-347-345-1034 1st/16 A.Miller, Merizalde
Nov 8-9 Pacific Match Play Match Play 1st/8
Feb 23-26 John H. Burns 276-274-280-830 1st/17 Billy Harvey Mar 28-29 Southwestern 288-283-291-862 2nd/14 Andy Miller Mar 13-14 S.Barbara Inv. 302-299-295--896 1st/19 Andy Miller Mar 20-21 M. Williams 304-282-295--881 1st/15 Andy Miller Apr 3-4 W. Intercol. 283-290-297-870 9th/20 Merizalde Apr 15 BYU-Stanford Shootout BYU-341 (-19) -Stanford-368 (+8)
Apr 21-22 Cougar Classic 273-273-275-821 1st/15 Andy Miller May 1-3 MWC Championships
May 18-20 NCAA W Regional
May 31-Jun 3 NCAA Championship
BYU's Individual Results 1999-2000
Andy Miller Rds. Strokes Avg. Low Top finish
34 2208 70.8 63 1st
Manuel Merizalde Rds. Strokes Avg. Low Top finish
28 1995 71.3 66 2nd
Todd Miller Rds. Strokes Avg. Low Top finish
26 1867 71.8 64 4th
Billy Harvey Rds. Strokes Avg. Low Top finish
34 2491 73.3 67 2nd
Scott Miller Rds. Strokes Avg. Low Top finish
23 1675 72.8 67 3rd
Jose Garrido Rds. Strokes Avg. Low Top finish
28 2058 73.5 68 7th
