Barcos Tied for Fourth, Utah Golf in Fifth in Corvallis

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Javier Barcos is tied for fourth and the University of Utah men’s golf team owns fifth place after a strong second-round performance on day one of the Oregon State Invitational, which got underway on Monday at the Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore.
 
“I would say it was a rough start to the day,” said head coach Garrett Clegg, “but the boys battled in the afternoon. Javi is in a great position going into the final round. I know he would have liked to finish the day better than he did, but overall, he is in a great spot. I’m proud of how we battled and now tomorrow we need to bring it in really tough conditions. We are expecting wind and rain, so anything can happen.”
 
Barcos almost could not have been more consistent in the opening round, posting nothing but pars on the front nine and adding seven more even scores in the second half of his round, with his streak only being interrupted by a birdie on the 12th and a bogey on the 13th for a 71 that placed him in a tie for 19th.
 
The senior from Spain was even better in the afternoon, once again rattling off nine straight pars to start before picking up three birdies in his first four holes after the turn. Despite a late bogey, Barcos still finished with a 2-under 69, putting him 2-under for the day and allowing him to jump 15 spots up the rankings. He’ll enter Tuesday’s final round three strokes off the lead.
 
Over his last 108 holes across three tournaments, Barcos’ stroke average stands at 69.3.
 
Davis Johnson also a played a crucial role in his team’s second round resurgence and jumped into the top 20 during his second trip around the course. The sophomore started the day with a 73 that included an even-par 36 on the back nine. He began round two with a difficult first nine holes, but once again was on point after that, putting up three birdies to finish with a 71 that boosted him from 37th into a tie for 17th.

Hunter Howe played his best golf in round one, collecting 15 pars on his way to a 1-over 72 before concluding the day 5-over and tied for 38th. Sergio Jimenez will enter the final round tied for 73rd, while Zack Neff is sharing 79th.

 

Only two squads in Corvallis could claim a better second round mark than Utah’s 4-over 288 and that performance moved the team five spots up the leaderboard into fifth. The Utes also…