FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Led by senior AJ Armstrong (-3, 137) in a tie for fourth place, the Washington State men's golf team holds 12th through the first two of three rounds, Monday, in its opening tournament of the fall, the Ram Masters Invitational held at Fort Collins Country Club.

"It was good to be back in competitive mode again," WSU head coach Dustin White said. "The guys showed signs of some good stuff in stretches – now it's just a matter of putting it together for an entire round. It's early in the season and we're going to learn each time we tee it up, and be better for it the next time out. Tomorrow will be a day to do that and I'm excited to see what it brings." 

Armstrong opened the day with a 69 in the first round (1-under par), holding eighth place after the opening 18 holes. He shot 2-under par in the  second round to move into a tie for fourth place with two others, Yannik Emmert of Wichita State and Trent Wallace of Illinois State, with two-round scores of -3, 137. The senior carded four birdies and an eagle on the day. Dan Starzinski of Wyoming leads the field with a two-round score of -7, 133. He's followed by two members of the Colorado State team, Parathakorn Suyasri (-6, 134) in second and Jake Staiano (-4, 136) in third place.  

The Cougars took three strokes off their first round score (+11, 291) in the second round (+8, 288) to finish the day with a two-round score of +19, 579. Just two schools shot under par, as Colorado State leads the field after firing -13, 547 on the day. The Rams are followed by Illinois State (-2, 558) in second and South Dakota (+8, 568) and Northern Colorado (+8, 568) tied for third. Just two strokes separate the Cougars from a four-way tie for eighth at +17, 577. 

Junior Nicklaus Chiam is in a tie for 49th (+6, 146) after shooting a 71 in the second round, a four-stroke improvement from his first round to move 17 spots up the leaderboard. He's followed by sophomore Ryan Maine (+9, 149) who's tied for 67th and junior Daniel Kolar and senior Grant Cole, both tied for 77th after each shot +11, 151 on the day.

The final round of the Ram Mastsers Invitational begins Tuesday with tee times beginning at 7 a.m. PT/8 a.m. MT. The Cougars tee off beginning at 8:33 a.m. PT from hole 10. Live scoring can be followed at golfstat.com. Full recaps from each day of competition will be posted at wsucougars.com.

Washington State Results
Team
T-4. AJ Armstrong 69 (-1), 68 (-2) = 137 (-3)
T-49. Nicklaus Chiam 75 (+5), 71 (+1) = 146 (+6)
T-67. Ryan Maine 74 (+4), 75 (+5) = 149 (+9)
T-77. Daniel Kolar 73 (+3), 78 (+8) = 151 (+11)
T-77. Grant Cole 77 (+7), 74 (+4) = 151 (+11)