Jason Franchuk

Esteban Calisto did some extra work during Friday dusk on the putting green. Showing off for a few BYU folks, he softly drained three consecutive putts in the five-foot range.

Boy, it would sure help the Cougars if some of those could go in today during the final round of their home tournament.

The PING Golf Cougar Classic, through 36 holes yesterday, became a constant battle of wills. As in, will coach Bruce Brockbank's team please make a short putt?

He lamented the fourth-place struggles as his team is seven strokes off the pace set by New Mexico State heading into the final 18 holes that will have the final group tee off at Riverside Country Club around 10:15 a.m.

On the par-72 course that has undergone some major changes, especially with the subtraction of many trees, BYU shot 10-under par collectively (566) in the 14-team tournament. That trails NMSU (559), Mountain West Conference foe New Mexico (561) and the highest nationally ranked visitor, Saint Mary's of California (563).

"We've just got to putt better, bottom line," Brockbank said. "We need to manage to make a few. Our inexperience can show up at times because we are young, but bottom line is we've got to make some key putts in our rounds that we're not making, and would help us out a lot."

More experience would, too, though that won't exactly happen overnight. BYU's five players are comprised of two freshmen (Calisto, Adam Tebbs), two sophomores (Robbie Fillmore, Brady Johnson) and junior Nick Killpack.

So having home-course advantage is minimized more than a tad this year. Calisto and Brockbank both mentioned that the greens are playing significantly firmer than they've been used to in practice sessions.

Fillmore, who fired a second-round 67 after going 72 to start, had some maddening times to balance out some spectacular play. He'd bogey a hole (even on the second 18), then birdie a par-3 after a tee shot that came awfully close to going in.

He's fun to watch, just as it's delightful to see his father follow him along the course jogging from hole to hole.

Question is, can the younger Fillmore -- currently BYU's top player, tied in eighth place overall -- and his teammates catch the frontrunners?

"We have a bunch of guys capable of putting up 65s," Calisto said. "We just have to go do it. If we take advantage of our chances, we can definitely go low."

Calisto is tied for 12th at 141 (3-under). There was a reason he practiced close-range putts even after a long day -- he squandered a three-footer on his final hole.

"Those could be big at the end of (today)," he said.

Washington State's Nick Ellis has the individual lead at 8-under (136). He has a two-stroke margin on six golfers.

One of them is NMSU's Kevin Lozares, who fired the lowest score of the day -- first-round 66 -- and has put his team in a position to win. The Aggies might feel the heat to play a little fast, because of an evening flight to catch.

Steady was their name through 36 holes, however, as all five scores were in the top 26. Three came in the top 15.

"We will have to play exceptionally well to get it done, but at least we have a chance," Brockbank said. "Any time you host an event you want to win. After that first round we were way too good of hosts. You want to be kind and make sure (visitors) have a great time, but you also want to play well. That first round we didn't. The second round was more conducive to what we're capable of."

BYU was eight shots better, as it moved up two spots in the team standings after being tied for sixth following the opening round.

• Of note: BYU sophomore Brad Nicholson is one of eight players competing as an individual, with no potential effect on team score. He's in first place among that group (tied for 15th overall) at 2-under par. He fired a 68 in his first round. ... Utah Valley State College is tied in last place (13th) with Sacramento State. Nick Nelson is tied for 21st (1-under). ... Saint Mary's, ranked No. 46, is in the tournament mostly because of two local products, former Salt Lake City prep standouts Michael and Robert McRae. Michael is tied for second place (138, 6-under). Robert is at plus-2 after shooting a pair of 73's. ... Calisto, from Ecuador, found out after his rounds that brother Diego had become engaged.

TEAM SCORES (through two of three rounds)

1. New Mexico State 559 (17-under par), 2. New Mexico 561 (minus-15), 3. Saint Mary's 563 (minus-13), 4. BYU 566 (minus-10), 5. Washington State 570 (minus-6), T-6. Air Force, Boise State 571 (minus-5), 8. Wyoming 575 (minus-1), 9. Utah 579 (plus-3), 10. Weber State 582 (plus-6), 11. Idaho State 583 (plus-7), 12. Utah State 590 (plus-14), T-13. Sacramento State, Utah Valley State 591 (plus-15).

INDIVIDUAL (par 144)

136: Nick Ellis, Washington State (69-67)

138: Troy Merritt, Boise State (70-68); Michael McRae, Saint Mary's (68-70); Tom Whitney, Air Force (67-71); Austin Hurt, Washington State (69-69); Parker Pemberton, New Mexico (68-70); Kevin Lozares, New Mexico State (66-72)

139: Robbie Fillmore, BYU (72-67); Timothy Madigan, New Mexico State (67-72); Jacob Lestishen, New Mexico (69-70)

140: Daniel Cone, Saint Mary's (70-70)

141. Esteban Calisto, BYU (70-71); Chadd Cocco, Saint Mary's (69-72); John Baranco, Boise State (74-67)

142: Gabe Maier, Wyoming (73-69); Shaun O'Bryant, Air Force (70-72); Tom Carlson, New Mexico (72-70); Travis Reid, New Mexico State (70-72); Nick Killpack, BYU (72-70); Brad Nicholson, BYU (68-74)