Barcos, Jimenez in Top 20 for Utah at Pac-12 Championships

CAREFREE, ARIZ. – Javier Barcos and Sergio Jimenez both own spots inside the top 20 while the University of Utah men’s golf team is in a deadlock with one other team in ninth following one day of play at the 2024 Pac-12 Championships, which got underway on Friday at the Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree, Ariz.
 
The Utes played their best golf of the day in round one and Barcos was one of the reasons why. Over his first 18 holes, the senior from Spain was 1-under and that was aided by five birdies, including three on the front nine. He strung together back-to-back red scores twice, first on the sixth and seventh and again on the 14th and 15th to finish below par for the fifth time in his last seven chances. Barcos was six-over in the afternoon to put him in a tie for 15th.
 
Just a single shot behind his teammate is Jimenez, who is tied for 17th. He started the day with a 72 that was aided by an eagle on the par-5 ninth, which also helped him post a 1-under 34 on the front nine. Jimenez was at his best on the back nine during round two and ended the day with a 36-hole score of 6-over.
 
Brandon Robison’s first round matched that of Barcos, thanks in large part to a red-hot back nine in which he put up four birdies over a stretch of six holes and he ended that half of his round at 3-under. For the tournament so far, Robison is 7-over and tied for 23rd.
 
Braxton Watts will enter play on Saturday tied for 60th, with Go Nakatsukasa sharing 63rd and Gabriel Palacios in 66th. Utah’s team score is 50-over.
 
Up Next
Saturday will begin with six teams, including Utah, finishing their second round of play, before round three gets underway soon after.

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