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A Remarkable Third Round Gets the Cougars the Win by Danielle von Arnim Posting his best 54-hole total in his college career (69-69-66--204), senior Jake Ellison led the team.
Feb. 23, 2007 HONOLULU, Hawaii - Fourteenth-ranked BYU posted an impressive 18-under-par 270 to win the John H. Burns Invitational by eight strokes over seventh -ranked conference rival UNLV. As frustrated as the Cougars were with their putting the first two days, the third and final round was different. They started making birdies early on and kept making them through out the day. After 36 holes, BYU was ten shots from the lead, but they quickly caught up to UNLV by the second nine on Friday, and with a strong finish, ended up eight strokes ahead. "The team caught fire today," said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank, "They were focused, felt they could win and found a way to do it." Posting his best 54-hole total in his college career (69-69-66--204), senior Jake Ellison led the team. He sunk a 25-foot birdie on hole 18 to put him in second individually and one shot from the lead. "I had no clue I was so close to the leader," said Ellison, "I just tried to play my game. It would have been nice to win, but I'm happy of how it turned out. It gives me great confidence." Daniel Summerhays and Clay Ogden also played well, with Summerhays finishing 7-under-par and tied for 6th and Ogden 6-under-par and tied for 8th. After a disappointing 76 the second round, Nick Becker came back with a three-under-par 69 to finish the tournament 5-under-par and tied for 13th place. As individual competitors, Nick Killpack finished the tournament at five-over-par 221 and tied for 71st while Brad Nicholson finished tied for 116th at 18-under-par. SMU's Frank Wrenn claimed individual medalist honors with a 13-under 203 total, but couldn't help his team, the defending champions, as he was an individual competitor. "What we did today is what it takes to win a college tournament," said Brockbank, "It's really exciting to see the guys play as well as they did. Their intensity was impressive, I'm proud of how they handled themselves out there." The Cougars will be back on the road the 26th and 27th of March at the Morris Williams in Austin, Texas.
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