May 19, 2006
TUCSON, Ariz. - Sparked by a trio of four-under 68s, the No. 7 Arizona State men's golf team posted a season-best 15-under 273 and moved into fourth place after two rounds of the NCAA West Regional, being held at the par-72, 7,200-yard Omni Tucson National Golf Course.
All five Sun Devil players shot under par on Friday led by junior Niklas Lemke, senior Lenny Park and sophomore Phil Telliard, who all carded a four-under 68. The score tied a career best for Telliard, who also had a 68 in the second round of last month's ASU Thunderbird Invitational.
"We had a very good day today," said ASU head coach Randy Lein. "It was nice to see our No. 4 (Park) and No. 5 (Telliard) players do well and contribute. For us to win at nationals, the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 guys have to be good, but the No. 4 and No. 5 guys need to be as well, and our guys did that today. I feel really good.
"Phil's 68 was big. He saw the scores yesterday and knew where the team stood. He had a good start and he built on that and finished with a good score."
Also shooting under par on Friday were freshman Benjamin Alvarado Holley, who recorded a career-best three-under 69 and senior Alejandro Canizares, who shot a two-under 70. For Canizares, it marked the fifth straight round that he has shot under par going back to his final three rounds at the Pac-10 Championships last month in Palm Desert, Calif.
The Sun Devils were one of three teams to shoot a 15-under on Friday. Also accomplishing the feat were Arizona and N.C. State, which ended the second round in first (24-under 552) and second place (21-under 555), respectively. Florida, which had a six-stroke lead when the day began, is now tied with N.C. State for second place after shooting a six-under 282 on Friday. ASU is in fourth-place (19-under 557) followed by East Tennessee State (12-under 564), Loyola Marymount (11-under 565), Fresno State (10-under 566) and UC-Irvine (nine-under 567). Rounding out the top 10 teams of the 27-team field are Washington and Nevada, which are both tied for ninth-place with a seven-under 569.
Dustin Pimm of Utah continued to lead the individual competition after posting a four-under 68 to move to 10-under 134 for the tournament. Canizares and Lemke are currently in a seven-way tie for 10th place with a two-day total of six-under 138. Other Sun Devil finishes from Friday's second round include Alvarado, who is in a seven-way tie for 31st place (three-under 141); Park, who is in a 10-way tie for 38th place (two-under 142) and Telliard, who is in an 11-way tie for 57th place (even-par 144).
Play in the NCAA West Regional continues Saturday with tee times starting at 6:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available for Saturday's final round of the NCAA West Regional at www.golfstatresults.com.
The Sun Devils will tee off at 6:48 a.m. on Saturday and will be paired with East Tennessee State and Loyola Marymount.
The top 10 teams from each of the three NCAA Regional sites (East, West and Central) will qualify for the NCAA Championships, taking place May 31-June 3 at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.