Behind senior Jordan Rodgers' 10th-place finish, BYU men's golf tied for ninth place at the Arizona Intercollegiate on Tuesday.
"We shot our best round, that's what we were looking for," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "I'm really impressed with the 69 that Tommy Higham shot today. Even though we didn't move up much, there were some positives. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but if we can continue to improve, maybe we will get in contention to win a tournament this spring."
BYU finished in a tie for ninth place with West Coast Conference foe Pepperdine, shooting 16-over-par. No. 29 Arizona State (-12) won the tournament, shooting 277 in rounds two and three, which were the lowest rounds of the tournament. WCC members Pacific (+15) and Loyola Marymount (+38) took eighth and 14th, respectively.
The Cougars shot their lowest round of the tournament in the final round, totalling 284.
Rodgers dropped from second place to 10th place in the third and final round, shooting 1-under-par. His 68 in the first round was the loweset on the team in this tournament.
In his first collegiate tournament appearance, Zach Pritchard shot 4-over-par and finished in a tie for 23rd.
"It was a little nerve-wracking playing in my first tournament, but I thought I played pretty well overall," Pritchard said. "We were able to get a good score in the final round, but we need to be more consistent."
Junior Tommy Higham and senior Cole Ogden ended up near each other in the standings, tied for 34th and 36th place, respectively. Higham shot 6-over-par, scoring his lowest round of the tournament with a 69 in the third round, which was also the lowest score for the team in that round. Ogden shot 7-over-par, also shooting his lowest score of the tournament with a 70 in the third round.
Senior Mike Jurca shot 15-over-par to finish in a tie for 71st.
The Cougars are off until Feb. 18-20, when they travel to Hawai'i to play in the John H. Burns Invitational.