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Phillips dominates day one at Arizona Intercollegiate

Posted at 10:55 PM, Jan 28, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-28 23:55:47-05

TUCSON, Ariz. – Senior Chandler Phillips leads individual the race after shooting 12-under to help lift the No. 18 Texas A&M men's golf team on the first day of the Arizona Intercollegiate. The Aggies currently sit in fourth after 36 holes with a score of 553 (281+272), shooting 15 under, with 38 birdies on the day. Arizona State holds the second-round lead at 21-under (280+267=547), while Arizona and UCLA are tied for second at 16-under.

"Chandler Phillips was amazing today, from the end of the first round all the way through," said head coach J.T. Higgins. "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 Bennett played awesome too. To have two guys in the top three is great for us.

"I thought that we were a little rusty heading into the tournament and it showed. 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 are six back, which is a lot of work to do on this golf course, but at the same time we showed we can make a lot of birdies. We'll need everyone involved, not just two guys, if we want to have a chance to win."

Phillips (67+63=130) began the second round of the day with six straight birdies, recording 16 total on the day, to jump to the top of the leaderboard. Freshman Sam Bennett (68+67=135) also worked his way up the standings in the second round, as he finished tied for third, shooting 7-under.

Sophomore Walker Lee (73+71=144) shot 2-over on the day to remain in the top 50 for the Aggies, while classmate Reese Ramsey (73+74=147) was 5-over and junior Brandon Smith (77+71=148) went 6-over.

The Aggies will be back in action tomorrow, Jan. 29, beginning at 9 a.m. CT for the final 18 holes of the Arizona Intercollegiate. Follow play here [results.golfstat.com].