PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — BYU men’s golf moved up seven spots after a 4-under-par 280 second round on Tuesday to sit in fifth entering the final round of the Saint Mary’s Invitational at Poppy Hills Golf Course.
"I felt a lot more loose going into the second round and was able to play my game," said BYU golfer Keanu Akina. "In the final round we are just going to do our thing, stay hungry and have fun.”
No. 6 Stanford and Oregon distanced themselves from the field in round two and sit 16 and nine shots ahead of the field with 18-holes to play. Stanford is 19-under and holds a seven-shot lead over the Ducks (12-under) entering the final round. San Francisco and Nevada each posted 3-under par totals which puts them in a tie for third, one shot clear of BYU who rounds out the top-5 at 2-under for the tournament.
Keanu Akina fired the round of the day for the Cougars with a 5-under 66, besting his first-round score by eleven shots. In his second round, Akina carded two eagles, four birdies, and three bogies including a hole-out from the fairway on the par-4 12th. That puts him in a tie for 30th, just two shots back of teammates Carson Lundell and Cole Ponich, who for the second straight day matched each other shot-for-shot, posting even par rounds. They sit six shots back of the leader in a tie for 15th.
David Timmins also bested his first-round score by shooting a 1-over 72, to move up 14 spots into a tie for 61st. Tyson Shelley rounded out the team scoring for the Cougars with a 79 in his second round. Elijah Turner, playing as an individual, improved by four shots on his opening round with a second round 74.
BYU tees off at 9:09 A.M. PST in the final round of the Saint Mary’s Invitational. Follow the Cougars scores live by visiting golfstat.com.
| Place | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-15 | Carson Lundell | 70 | 71 | -- | 141 | -1 |
| T-15 | Cole Ponich | 70 | 71 | -- | 141 | -1 |
| T-30 | Keanu Akina | 77 | 66 | -- | 143 | +1 |
| T-61 | David Timmins | 75 | 72 | -- | 147 | +5 |
| T-82 | Tyson Shelley | 71 | 79 | -- | 150 | +8 |
| T-92 | Elijah Turner* | 78 | 74 | -- | 152 | +10 |
* playing as an individual
Team Leaderboard (Top 5 of 19)
| Place | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Stanford | 269 | 280 | --- | 549 | -19 |
| 2nd | Oregon | 280 | 276 | --- | 556 | -12 |
| T-3 | San Francisco | 277 | 288 | --- | 565 | -3 |
| T-3 | Nevada | 286 | 279 | --- | 565 | -3 |
| 5th | BYU | 286 | 280 | --- | 566 | -2 |