With a closing 368, +13, at 6,802-yard San Joaquin CC in Fresno, CA, the Washington men's golf team failed to hold on to its second round lead at the Fresno Lexus Classic, eventually finishing third in the 16-team event, two shots out of a play-off between Brigham Young and San Diego which BYU won on the first extra hole.
Despite another strong showing, Husky coach Matt Thurmond was ultimately disappointed his team had let too many opportunities slip. 'We made a lot of big mistakes and we made a lot of little mistakes,' he said afterwards. 'I'm kind of frustrated. We're playing okay, but we're just making mistakes that players like we have just shouldn't be making.' 'Even if we would have won, I wouldn't have been thrilled,' he continued. 'The last couple of tournaments I thought we played pretty decent and barely lost. This one, we did not play very well and barely lost.'
Senior Nick Taylor provided one of the bright spots of the day shooting a one-under-par 70, the only sub-par round by a Husky Tuesday. The former R&A World Amateur #1 birdied the final two holes to finish the tournament at two-over and tied for 11th.
'He hit the ball a lot better today and avoided the big mistakes,' said Thurmond. 'He still had more bogeys than he wanted, but he kind of just kept fighting. I was proud of him for birdieing those last two because I know this was a frustrating tournament for him.'
Richard Lee was the Husky's top finisher, tieing for seventh on 214, +1, after rounds of 68, 73 and 73. Chris Williams, who won the Battle of the Beach last time out, finished 21st after a three-round total of 218, +5. Senior Chris Killmer was next on the leaderboard, posting seven-over for the tournament to finish tied for 25th.
Darren Wallace finished tied for 41st and Jens Bracht was tied for 52nd.
BYU's Robbie Fillmore made a birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat UC-Irvine's John Chin in a playoff for the title. Both players had completed 54 holes in 208, -5.

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