In their first tournament of the spring season, No. 18 Texas A&M men’s golf team sits in fourth place at 15-under par (553), as the team made 38 birdies on the first day of play at the Arizona Intercollegiate. No. 11 Arizona State (21-under par) leads the tournament after 36-holes, while Arizona and UCLA are in a tie for second (16-under par).
A&M senior golfer Chandler Phillips dominated the field during the first two rounds, ending the day at 12-under par and in the lead by three shots.
After an opening round of 67, Phillips started his second round of the day with six consecutive birdies to post a score of 63. The senior holed 16 birdies during the first two rounds on Monday.
“Phillips was amazing today, from the end of the first round all the way through,” A&M head coach J.T. Higgins told 12thman.com. “He was a birdie machine, making some great putts and great shots. It was really fun to watch and thankfully kept us in contention. Sam Bennet played awesome too. To have two guys in the top three is great for us.”
Bennet sits in a tie for third at seven-under par through 36 holes, after rounds of 68 and 67. The freshman took advantage of the par 5’s, playing them at four-under par. Bennet is one of a handful of players to hole an eagle this week.
Sophomore Walker Lee is tied for 45^th at two-over par, while sophomore Reese Ramsey (five-over par) and junior Brandon Smith (six-over par) finished the day in 66^th and a tie for 67^th, respectively.
“I thought that we were a little rusty heading into the tournament and it showed,” Higgins told 12thman.com.  “It showed physically and mentally. We made some poor decisions and some poor shot selections and let our emotions get the better of us at times. But the guys are fighting hard and didn’t do a bad job for the first day out… We’ll need everyone involved, not just two guys if we want to have a chance to win.”
The Aggies will tee off at 9 a.m. CT on Tuesday for the final 18-holes at the Sewailo Golf Course.