WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — The BYU men's golf team came to life in the final round of the 2005 Ashworth Collegiate Invitational, taking second place as they pulled ahead of No. 8 Southern California and came within two strokes of the tournament champion, No. 21 Tennessee.
The Cougars, who began the final round eight strokes back of Tennessee and four strokes back of USC, carded the day's best round of golf with a 1-under-par 283. BYU started off slow inthe final round, shooting six over par in the first four holes, butturned its game around and dropped six strokes to finish the tournament at even par.
"It was a bit of a roller-coaster today," said coach Bruce Brockbank. "Bottom line, it was pretty impressive how the guys hung in there and finished the way they did, shooting under par. I was pleased with the way they stayed in there and handled the situation."
Senior Ron Harvey Jr. shot a 2-under-par 69 in the final round to finish the tournament in fourth place, his best finish this season. During the final round,Harvey carded five birdies, ten pars and three bogeys.
"Ron played great," Brockbank said. "He's our No. 4 golfer and I thinkthe way he played really shows the depth of this golf team. He playedgreat on the toughest course we've played this season."
During the last two tournaments, Harvey has improved on each sequential round. At the John A. Burns Intercollegiate he shot 73-71-69 and atthis year's Ashworth Invitational he shot 72-70-69.
"I'm just trying to approach every round separately," Harvey said. "Itry to learn from each round and make improvements during the next one."
Senior Greg Machtaler, who finished the tournament in sixth place ateven par, had a final round full of ups and downs, carding six birdies,=20 eight pars, two bogeys and two double bogeys (71).
Oscar Alvarez and Jake Ellison completed BYU's team score as they both finished in a 12-place tie at two over par in the tournament. NickBecker had another difficult day, shooting a final-round 75 andfinishing at 11 over par. Todd Miller, who played as an individual,finished the tournament shooting a 7-over-par 220.
This year's tournament marks the fourth time the Cougars have qualifiedfour golfers in the top 20 (Fresno Lexus Classic, Borona CollegiateCup, Arizona Intercollegiate and Ashworth Collegiate Invitational).
BYU travels to Bandon Dunes, Ore. March 19 to compete in the Northwest Shootout.