Cougar Golfers Struggle in First Round of Ping Arizona Intercollegiate

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The BYU Men's Golf team struggled through the first day of the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate, finishing the first round at 21 over par. The team score of 305 was only good enough to rank 18 among the 20 teams competing in Tucson on Monday.

"This is a tricky golf course," said head coach Bruce Brockbank. "Our top guys came out and got up to 3 or 4 over par and it was a challenge to get our confidence back after that kind of start."

The sixteenth-ranked USC Trojans lead the tournament at 8 under par and had four players shoot under par or better. Ohio State recorded a one-under 283 as a team to take second place after the first day. Arizona State and California are tied for third and South Carolina and Oregon are tied for fifth to round out the top five.

Manuel Merizalde and Scott Miller posted the best first round score for the Cougar team at 75, which is four over and 8 shots off of the lead. Four players are atop the leader board at four under par including, Kyle Thompson (So. Carolina), Mike Austin (Ohio State), Kevin Stadler (USC), and Brady Stockton (Arizona State).

The team score of 305 is the worst for the Cougars since an opening day 307 at the Topy Cup in September 1999 in difficult weather conditions. Despite the rough start, Brockbank is confident the Cougars can recover and make a good showing during the final two rounds.

"We will need to take a piece of this humble pie and see if we can come out and finish off strong tomorrow," Brockbank said. "We haven't shot this bad in a long time."

The Cougars have already taken steps in that direction by competing well on the first 15 holes of the second round. Second round play was suspended due to darkness Monday evening. The remaining holes will be completed Tuesday morning before the start of the third round.

Team Standings
1.	USC	276	-8
2.	Ohio State	283	-1
3.	Arizona State	286	+2
	California	286	+2
5.	South Carolina	290	+6
	Oregon	290	+6
7.	Oregon State	292	+8
8.	Stanford	293	+9
9.	Mississippi	295	+11
10.	Arizona	297	+13
	UC-Irvine	297	+13
	Pepperdine	297	+13
	Arizona "B"	297	+13
14.	Texas-El Paso	300	+16
15.	Long Beach State	301	+17
16.	Washington	303	+19
	UCLA	303	+19
18.	BYU	305	+21
19.	Arkansas	314	+30
20.	New Mexico State	320	+36
Top 10 Individuals
1.	Kyle Thompson, South Carolina	67	-4
	Mike Austin, Ohio Statae	67	-4
	Kevin Stadler, USC	67	-4
	Brady Stockton, Arizona State	67	-4
5.	Andrew Medley, Ole Miss	68	-3
	Doug Yi, California	68	-3
	Alex Kuyumjian, USC	68	-3
8.	James Lee, Stanford	69	-2
	Ben Flam, Arizona State	69	-2
10.	Travis Johnson, UCLA	70	-1
	Hunter Mahan, USC	70	-1
	Jeff Coburn, UC-Irvine	70	-1
BYU Men's First Round Scores
t54	Manuel Merizalde	75	+4
t54	Scott Miller	75	+4
t67	Billy Harvey	77	+6
t76	Ollie Nissenen	78	+7
t96	Jesse Hibler	82	+11