April 26, 2014
Day Two Results in PDF Format | MW Championship Page | Live Results
TUCSON, Ariz. - San Diego State's Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy) moved into a tie for first place on the individual leaderboard after carding an even-par 71 on Saturday during the second round of the 2014 Mountain West Men's Golf Championship at the OMNI Tucson National Golf Club. Battling strong winds and intermittent rain, the Aztecs still climbed one spot into second as a team after shooting a collective 4-over 288 on the par-71, 7,144-yard Catalina Course.
With its effort, SDSU (+1) vaulted into the runner-up position, six strokes in front of third-place UNLV and 13 shots ahead of the No. 4 team Air Force heading into Sunday's final round. However with three players among the individual top five, New Mexico (-8) still maintained its perch atop the standings after tying the tournament low with a 281 on Saturday.
After posting his lowest score of the season in relation to par with a 68 on Friday, Michelini continued his steady play, opening with nine straight pars before offsetting two bogeys with a pair of birdies on the back nine, including a conversion on the challenging 18th hole, which played as the second-toughest hole during the second round. With his performance, the Aztec sophomore, who finished fourth at the conference tournament a year ago, now shares the top spot with New Mexico's Gavin Green and Victor Perez at 3-under 139.
Freshman Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego, Calif.) also displayed upward mobility for the Scarlet and Black, climbing 10 places into a tie for sixth at even-par 142. The Francis Parker High alumnus recorded just one blemish on his scorecard, a bogey at No. 7, notching 15 pars on the day to go with a pair of birdies on the back nine. Thanks to his second-round 70, Mendoza finds himself just three shots behind the tri-leaders.
In addition, James Holley (Chatsworth, Calif.) finds himself in contention after recording his second straight 72 on Saturday. The SDSU junior, who ranks second in the field with nine birdies for the tournament, recorded three additional conversions on Saturday to help offset a pair of bogeys and a costly double-bogey at No. 9. Nevertheless, Holley still managed to climb six places into a six-way tie for 10th at 2-over 144, trailing the front-runners by just five shots.
Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.) was not as fortunate, however, slipping eight spots into a tie for 19th at 4-over 146. The Scripps High Ranch alumnus had the unenviable task of overcoming a quadruple-bogey at No. 2, but did so with aplomb, notching six straight pars and back-to-back birdies on Nos. 9 and 10 to get back to 2-over for the round. However, the Aztec junior suffered three bogeys over his next five holes and had to settle for a 75 despite making birdie at No. 17.
Meanwhile, freshman Ricky DeSantis (Carlsbad, Calif.) experienced a more precipitous drop, falling from a fifth-place tie all the way to 45th after struggling to an 84. The Carlsbad High product found himself in early trouble with a triple-bogey on the second, followed by a double-bogey at No. 5, and could not recover.
Final-round action at the MW Championship gets underway on Sunday, with the Aztecs scheduled to tee off alongside UNLV and New Mexico once again, starting at 9:30 a.m. PDT.
2014 Mountain West Men's Golf ChampionshipOMNI Tucson National G.C.Catalina CourseTucson, Ariz.Par 71, 7,144 yardsRound Two Results
Team Scores1. New Mexico 279-281--560 (-8)2. San Diego State 281-288--569 (+1)3. UNLV 280-295--575 (+7)4. Air Force 287-295--582 (+14)T5. Nevada 296-290--586 (+18)T5. Colorado State 292-294--586 (+18)T7. Wyoming 290-303--593 (+25)T7. Utah State 298-295--593 (+25)T9. Boise State 293-307--600 (+32)T9. San José State 292-308--600 (+32)11. Fresno State 307-299--606 (+38)---Individual Scores (Top 5 of 55 players + SDSU)T1. Riccardo Michelini, SDSU 68-71--139 (-3)T1. Gavin Green, New Mexico 70-69--139 (-3)T1. Victor Perez, New Mexico 70-69--139 (-3)4. Kyle Westmoreland, Air Force 70-70--140 (-2)5. Sam Saunders, New Mexico 70-71--141 (-1)----T6. Nahum Mendoza III, SDSU 72-70--142 (E)T10. James Holley, SDSU 72-72--144 (+2)T19. Xander Schauffele, SDSU 71-75--146 (+4)T45. Ricky DeSantis, SDSU 70-84--154 (+12)