LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Utah junior
Sergio Jimenez posted a 1-under 69, his second consecutive round under par, during day two of the John A. Burns Intercollegiate as the Utes continued play at the Ocean Course at Hokuala on Friday.
Jimenez, who entered day two as the tournament's individual leader
after a 4-under opening round, continued his strong play in Hawaii with five total birdies during a windy second round. The junior from Spain opened his afternoon with birdies on the third, fifth, and seventh holes of the Ocean Course before finishing the day with back-to-back birdies on the first and second, his final two holes of the round.
Jimenez enters the final day of the John Burns with a 36-hole score of 5-under 135. The Ute currently sits in a tie for second place, one stroke behind Loyola Marymount's Nateeshvar Anatha Ganesh, who leads the tournament with a score of 6-under.
Davis Johnson and
Gabriel Palacios posted the Utes' second-lowest rounds of the day with respective scores of 1-over 71. Johnson was one of three Utah players who started their day with a birdie, carding three more during his round to end the day with a 36-hole stroke total of 3-over 143 in a tie for 37
th place. Like Johnson, Palacios, the nation's current 13
th-ranked golfer, started his day hot with a birdie on the par-4 first and eagle on the par-5 second. The junior from Guatemala cooled off as the round progressed, but still managed to end the day as Utah's highest riser, jumping 10 spots to enter a tie for 67th.
Jack Jerge finished his day with a 2-over 72 round that included two birdies. With the 2-over round, the Concord, Calif., native joins Johnson at 3-over 143, in a tie for 37th place.
Brandon Robison and
Jan Farre closed out the Utes' day with rounds of 6-over 76 and 2-over 72. Robison will enter the final day of action in a tie for 92nd while Farre, playing as an individual for Utah, enters the final day in a tie for 86th.
As a team, Utah posted a score of 3-over 283 during round two. The score matches the team's previous score from day one of the tournament and puts the Utes in a tie for ninth place with UTEP at 6-over.
The Utes will have their work cut out for them if they want to defend last year's tournament title, as Loyola Marymount and Texas A&M sit in a two-way tie for first at 8-under.
DAY TWO STANDINGS
| T1.) LMU (-8) |
T1.) Texas A&M (-8) |
3.) UNLV (-5) |
T4.) BYU (-2) |
| T4.) New Mexico (-2) |
T6.) St. Mary's (E) |
T6.) CSULB (E) |
8.) Santa Clara (+5) |
| T9.) UTEP (+6) |
T9.) Utah (+6) |
11.) SDSU (+7) |
12.) California (+9) |
| 13.) Washington St. (+11) |
14.) Grand Canyon (+17) |
15.) Miami-OH (+21) |
16.) Missouri (+25) |
| 17.) San Francisco (+27) |
18.) Hawaii (+29) |
19.) Fresno St. (+33) |
|
UP NEXT
The Utes will compete in the third round of "The Burns" on Friday, Feb. 14. All eyes will be on
Sergio Jimenez to see if the third-year Utah man can secure his second career tournament victory.
TOURNAMENT DETAILS
The John A. Burns Intercollegiate spans 54 holes across three days, with competitors playing one 18-hole round each day. The 49
th edition of the tournament began with 18 holes of action on Thursday, Feb. 12 and will conclude with a final round on Saturday, Feb. 14 at the Ocean Course in Lihue, Kaua'i.
LIVE SCORING
To keep up with the results at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate, fans can visit
Scoreboard. Links to live scoring on each day can also be found on
UtahUtes.com.
FOLLOW THE UTES
For an inside look at the Utah Golf program, including tournament, roster and news updates, fans can follow the Utes on social media (X:
@UtesGolf | Instagram:
@UtesGolf).
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