Aztecs take first-day lead in Fresno

San Diego State lived up to its No. 7 national ranking Monday, taking a 17-stroke advantage after 36 holes at the Fresno State Lexus Classic at the par-72, 6,950-yard Sunnyside Golf Course.

The Aztecs carded a day one total of 1-over 721, including a second round 5-under 355, to own a sizeable lead on second place and No. 19 Duke, who is at 18-over 738, just one stroke better than third-place UC Irvine.

Three Aztecs are in the top six on the individual leaderboard and all six SDSU competitors are in the top 32 of the 16-team, 100-player field. Reigning Mountain West Conference player of the month, senior J.J. Spaun is currently tied for second place, just two strokes in back of leader Alex Johnson of Pacific. Spaun moved his streak of consecutive rounds at or under par to eight in a row with a 71, followed by a 4-under 68 in the afternoon to card a 5-under 139.

SDSU junior Colin Featherstone and sophomore Tom Berry are in a five-way tie for sixth place at 1-under 143. Featherstone had eight birdies on the day, highlighted by three in a row in the second round on holes four through six. Berry, meanwhile, had a team-high nine birdies Monday, helping him to offset a pair of first-round double-bogeys.

Aztec freshman Todd Baek rallied from 53rd place into a tie for 25th with teammate junior Alex Kang at 5-over 149. Baek had four birdies in the second round after having none through the first 18.

The team’s lone senior, Johan Carlsson, also moved up, cutting two strokes off his opening 76 to fire a 2-over 74 and jump from 43rd to a tie for 32nd place.