khaner | Posted: 25 Apr 2015 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020

Rodgers wins PING Cougar Classic, team comes in third

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Day 1 Recap

PROVO, Utah – Jordan Rodgers won the individual title at the PING Cougar Classic on Saturday. As a team, BYU men’s golf finished in third place in the tournament.

Rodgers and Seokwon Jeon from Utah State finished the third round in a tie for first place. The two players shot a playoff round to determine the winner. Rodgers birdied the second playoff hole to win his last tournament of his career.

“It feels good to win,” Rodgers said. “This is my third event at the Cougar Classic, and I expected to play well. I was a bit nervous in the playoff rounds. The first round was not great for me, but in the second round, I hit it right down the middle. I missed my first putt, but I was able to pull it out. Hopefully this isn’t the end of my season and I’ll make it to the postseason. But for now, I’m ecstatic that I won.”

Third place went to Wyoming’s Ryan Wallen in a scorecard playoff. He birdied 16.

The Cougars took sole possession of third place, one stroke behind West Coast Conference foe Pacific, who finished in second. Colorado State won the tournament at 11-under-par.

"I'm happy with how our team finished the season," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "It was great to see Jordan win the last tournament of his career. I'm proud of the way he played this weekend. We will miss the leadership of our three seniors, but I am excited about the young talent on this team and the future of our program." 

Local teams Southern Utah, Utah State and Utah Valley finished in fifth, seventh and a tie for eighth, respectively. Utah State’s Leon took second after losing the playoff holes to Rodgers. Southern Utah had two players tie for third place at four-under-par to lead the team. UVU’s Blair Bursey shot two-under-par to tie for 10th place, a team-high for the Wolverines.

Freshman Austin Banz shot a career-high 67 in the first round to tie for third place (-4), his highest career finish in a tournament. Just outside of the top 20, Zach Pritchard tied for 25th after shooting three-over-par. He tied his career-low of 71 in the first round.

Shooting six-over-par, Tommy Higham dropped to a tie for 36th (+6) after shooting 77 in the third round. Rounding out the team, senior Cole Ogden tied for 49th place and shot 12-over-par.

The Cougars had three people playing as individuals in the tournament. Mike Jurca had the highest finish of those three, tying for 21st (+2). Dalton Stanger tied for 28th, shooting four-over-par. CJ Lee shot nine-over-par to take sole possession of 48th place.

BYU now awaits potential individual invitations to the NCAA Regionals on May 16-18.

PING Cougar Classic - April 25, 2015

Individual Scores
Place Player Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Total
1 Jordan Rodgers 71 69 71 -5
T3 Austin Banz 67 74 71 -4
T25 Zach Pritchard 71 76 72 +3
T36 Tommy Higham 71 74 77 +6
T49 Cole Ogden 77 75 76 +12

 

Team Scores
Place Team Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Total
1 Colorado State 278 286 289 853
2 Pacific 283 289 289 861
3 BYU 280 292 290 862
4 Fresno State 292 286 288 866
5 Southern Utah 291 287 289 867
6 Wyoming 292 291 285 868
7 Utah State 290 288 292 870
T8 Utah Valley 285 294 293 872
T8 Nevada 288 287 297 872
10 Boise State 291 290 296 877
11 Air Force 306 302 288 896