Cats and the Field Battle High Winds To Open Pac-12 Championships

CAREFREE, Ariz. – Unrelenting winds whipped through Desert Forest Golf Club and challenged No. 8 Arizona Men's Gold as well as the rest of the field on Friday's first day of the Pac-12 Championships. The Wildcats nearly completed all 36 of their holes before lightning in the area ended the second round, leaving the course in a tie for seventh at 45-over par. No single team broke par on Friday with Washington leading the tournament at 13-over.

"Today pushed everyone to their limits, and we did not respond as well as we would have liked," said head coach Jim Anderson. "Incredibly windy conditions happen and resiliency reigns supreme on days like today. With more wind in the forecast, there will be opportunities for big swings in scoring. Our mindset needs to be focused on adjusting our plan on a few of the holes and continuing to battle with each and every swing. Tomorrow will be a good day for our entire team if we can execute that plan."

Sophomore Yannick Malik, who completed both of his rounds on Friday, leads the Wildcats on the leaderboard at 6-over par and tied for 17th place. Malik carded consecutive steady rounds of 74 with four birdies on his scorecard. Junior Johnny Walker gave Arizona its second-best score on Friday with an 8-over par performance, which put him in a tie for 29th. Out of a field of 72 players on Friday, only three broke par.

The Cats will enter Saturday's third round amid a pack of five teams separated by a total of nine strokes.