The No. 45 BYU men's golf team fell behind early in the tournament, as they placed 14th at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate tournament.

First place went to No. 11 Oklahoma State, which scored a 22-under-par 842. The No. 5 University of Texas, hosted the tournament, and claimed second place after scoring a 21-under-par 843.

Texas led with a four-stroke lead over Oklahoma State going into the last round of play, but the Cowboys shot a 6-under-par final round to overtake the Longhorns.

While some teams rallied for the lead, BYU fought their way up the bottom half of the leaderboard.

"This is the best field we've played against all year," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "If you come in here and play average, it will hurt you. Hopefully this will give our guys a wake-up call."

The 18-team field included eight teams ranked in the top-25, three of whom ranked in the top-5. After 54 holes of play, only four teams finished below par for the tournament.

Oklahoma State junior Hunter Mahan shot a 7-under-par 65 on the last round of play to capture first place individually. Mahan finished with a 14-under-par 202 after three rounds of play.

BYU freshman Daniel Summerhays finished with the team's lowest score of the tournament with an even-par 216. Sophomore Ron Harvey Jr. sat one shot behind Summerhays with a 1-over-par 217.

The rest of the team struggled throughout the tournament and failed to convert on potential birdies.

"My expectations are high for this team, and I really think we can do better than what we showed today," Brockbank said after the first day of play.

The Cougars improved from their first two rounds of 295 and 296 to score a 2-over-par 290 in the last round.

Going into their third tournament of the spring season, the Cougars have struggled to find the necessary practice time during the lingering winter weather.

"We're just not making our putts," Brockbank said after the second round of the tournament. "On the eighteenth hole we had three guys hit their approach within six feet and all three missed birdie putts. All the putts we needed to make to stay in this thing, we just aren't making."

The golf team will have over two weeks to watch the greens thaw at Riverside Country Club and get some warm weather practice before they return to Texas on April 4 to compete in the Border Olympics tournament. The competition will take place at the Laredo Country Club, and will be hosted by Texas A&M.



Copyright Brigham Young University 19 Mar 2003