April 28, 2005
SAN DIEGO - Three San Diego State golfers are among the top 11 individually, and the Aztec men's golf team is in a tie for second place after Thursday's first round of the 2005 Mountain West Conference Championships in Sunriver, Ore.
Fifth-ranked New Mexico, which shot a first-round score of 3-under-par, leads the team event by seven strokes over the Aztecs and Brigham Young. The nation's fourth-ranked team, UNLV, is in fourth place, nine shots off the lead.
San Diego State received strong first-day performances from junior Josh Warthen and seniors Linus Nilsson and Gilberto Rodriguez, all of whom were playing in their first Mountain West Championship. Warthen, whose best finish this season is a tie for 15th, is in tie for third-place after firing a 1-under-par 71. Warthen recorded just one bogey in his first round and is two shots off the individual lead held by New Mexico's Spencer Levin at 3-under-par.
Nilsson posted a tournament high 16 pars on Thursday, suffering his lone bogey of the afternoon on his final hole, to end the first round in a tie for seventh place at even-par. Rodriguez, one of only two golfers in the field to record an eagle in the first round, rode a roller-coaster opening-day to a score of 1-over-par 73. He had an eagle, a birdie and four bogeys in his final 12 holes and is tied for 11th place after 18 holes.
Two Aztec players that have enjoyed exceptional seasons struggled Thursday. Senior Aaron Choi, who has four top 10 finishes this season, is in 24th place after a 4-over-par 76. He opened the championship with a triple bogey followed by a bogey, but was able to play scratch golf over the final 16 holes. Junior Andrew Scott, who has been SDSU's top individual in three of the last five tournaments, is in a tie for 28th place after a 5-over-par 77. That ended a streak of five consecutive rounds in tournament competition at or under par for Scott.
The 54-hole tournament continues at the Sunriver Resort with the second round tomorrow and the final round on Saturday. Play begins for both the second and third rounds at 9:30 a.m. PT and live scoring is available at goaztecs.com. The Mountain West Conference field features two teams ranked in the top five nationally (fourth-ranked UNLV and fifth-ranked New Mexico) and three teams ranked among the top 13 in the country (13th-ranked Brigham Young).
First-Round Team Results1. New Mexico 285 (-3)2. San Diego State 292 (+4) Brigham Young 292 (+4)4. UNLV 294 (+6)5. Colorado State 297 (+9)6. Utah 300 (+12) Wyoming 300 (+12)8. Air Force 312 (+24)
First-Round Individual Leaders1. Spencer Levin, New Mexico 69 (-3)2. Jay Choi, New Mexico 70 (-2)3. Josh Warthen, SDSU 71 (-1) Nick Becker, BYU 71 (-1) Ron Harvey, Jr., BYU 71 (-1) Nate Pettit, Colorado St. 71 (-1)
San Diego State Individual First-Round Scores3. Josh Warthen 71 (-1)7. Linus Nilsson 72 (E)11. Gilberto Rodriguez 73 (+1)24. Aaron Choi 76 (+4)28. Andrew Scott 77 (+5)