Feb. 24, 2009
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif - San Diego State freshman J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) carded a 1-under-par 141 on Monday to lead the Aztec men's golf team during the first two rounds of the USC Collegiate in Westlake Village, Calif. As a team, SDSU shot a combined 19-over 587 on rounds of 294 and 293 to finish the day in ninth place at the 6,869 yard, par-71 North Ranch C.C. Sixth-ranked Stanford (-8) leads the tournament by two stokes over Brigham Young (-6), while California (+3), UCLA (+11) and UC Irvine (+11) rounded out the top five. Host USC finished the first day in eight place (+16).
Spaun came out solid, carding an even-par 71 over the first 18 holes, but closed out the afternoon session a little stronger with a 1-under-par 70. Still, the Aztec freshman remains in contention just three strokes back of UCLA's Gregor Main, who sits atop the individual leaderboard after firing under-par rounds of 68 and 70 (-4).
Meanwhile, fellow freshman Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) completed Monday's action in a tie for 34th position after carding a 5-over 147. Kang was unable to duplicate his first round success, settling for a 75 after opening with a 1-over-par 72.
Sophomore Johan Carlsson finds himself two shots back of Kang after posting a 7-over 149 to tie for 44th. The Gothenburg, Sweden, product rebounded from an opening-round 76 to finish with a 73 in the afternoon. Freshman Andrew Cooley (New Haw, Surrey, England) posted a pair of 75s to end the day in a tie for 50th at 8-over 150.
Rounding out the Aztec delegation was sophomore Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.), who experienced difficulty on the first day, carding rounds of 79 and 76 en route to a two-round total of 13-over 155 to sit in 73rd position.
Competing as an individual is senior Ryan Citarella (Santa Ana, Calif.), who carded rounds of 72 and 70 on the first day. He currently sits in a tie for 15th, just one shot back of Spaun at even on the leaderboard.
The conclusion of the 54-hole USC Collegiate is currently underway after third-round play began at 7:30 a.m. For live tournament scoring, please check out the live scoring link on GoAztecs.com.
USC Collegiate
North Ranch C.C.
Par-71, 6,869 yards
Top-Five Teams plus SDSU
1. Stanford 284-276--560 (-8)
2. Brigham Young 275-287--562 (-6)
3. California 285-286--571 (+3)
T4. UCLA 292-287--579 (-11)
T4. UC Irvine 284-295--579 (+11)
T9. San Diego State 294-293--587 (+19)
Top-Five Individuals plus SDSU
1. Gregor Main, UCLA 68-70--138 (-4)
T2. Steve Ziegler, Stanford 71-68--139 (-3)
T2. Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine 68-71--139 (-3)
T2. Brady Johnson, BYU 68-71--139 (-3)
T2. Dodge Kremmer, Stanford 68-71--139 (-3)
T2. David Chung, Stanford 72-67--139 (-3)
T2. Jordan hammer, BYU 68-71--139 (-3)
T9. J.J. Spaun, SDSU 71-70--141 (-1)
T15. Ryan Citarella, SDSU 72-70--142 (E)*
T34. Alex Kang, SDSU 72-75--147 (+5)
T44. Johan Carlsson, SDSU 76-73--149 (+7)
T50. Andrew Cooley, SDSU 75-75--150 (+8)
73. Matt Hoffenberg, SDSU 79-76--155 (+13)
* indicates that player is participating as an individual