Barcos All Alone in First After Day One of OSU Invitational

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Javier Barcos matched the lowest round score of the season for the University of Utah men's golf team and is currently in sole possession of first place after one day of play at the Oregon State Invitational, which began on Monday at the Trysting Tree Golf Club.

"Javi played well and that was great to see!" said coach Garrett Clegg. "He had a bit of a struggle to start the second round, but did a great job turning things around before the end of his round. Hunter played solidly as an individual. Hopefully tomorrow we can find a way to play better golf."
 
Barcos raced out of the gate, birdieing three of his first four holes, then rattled off five consecutive pars to cap the front nine. He followed that by birdieing the 10th, 11th and 14th holes and finished the morning 4-under and his 67 matched the lowest round by a Ute so far this season. Barcos' second trip around the course started with a few front-nine bogeys, but he rebounded with a stretch of four birdies in six holes and was at par when darkness prevented play from continuing.
 
The junior from Estella, Spain is 4-under through 33 holes and will enter the final day of the tournament with a one-shot lead over Nicklaus Mason of Kansas State and Boise State's Max Charles.
 
Playing as an individual, Hunter Howe had possibly his best day as a Ute and will head into Tuesday tied for 9th. Howe was at par through nine holes, but closed out the opening round by shooting 2-under on the back nine, including back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th to post a 69. Howe recorded two more birdies in round two and posted three straight pars to finish the day, leaving him at par with 21 holes remaining.
 
Martin Leon was 3-over in the morning, then played even golf over 15 holes in round two to move six spots up the leaderboard into a tie for 29th. Leon accumulated five total birdies on Monday. Davis Johnson is in a tie for 64th, followed by Braxton Watts in 70th and Brandon Robison, who is tied for 80th. Tanner Telford, who is also playing as an individual, is even with two other players in 64th.
 
UP NEXT
The second round of the OSU Invitational will conclude on Tuesday, followed immediately by the final round.
 
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