Cooper Jones did not return from two years away and pick up where he left off. He came back close enough to make BYU’s next lineup decision uncomfortable.
Jones shot 70-71-72 for a 3-under 213 and finished third Tuesday at the Les Fowler Colorado Individual Invitational. It was his first college event since the 2024 NCAA regional and his second career top-five finish. Oklahoma State’s John Wild won at 7 under, four shots ahead of Jones, while Jaxon Bandelier took second at 4 under.
The better BYU story extends past third place. Lincoln Markham tied for seventh at even par, David Liechty tied for ninth at 2 over and Jackson Mauss tied for 16th at 8 over. All four Cougars placed in the top 20 of a 45-player field.
This was an individual tournament, so BYU did not post a team score and should not claim a shadow team victory. It did get 12 competitive rounds from the players outside last week’s five-man card. That is more useful than a tidy trophy when the Cougars have to choose who plays next.
BYU’s Les Fowler scorecards
| BYU golfer | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper Jones | 70 | 71 | 72 | 213 (-3) | 3rd |
| Lincoln Markham | 77 | 70 | 69 | 216 (E) | T-7th |
| David Liechty | 73 | 76 | 69 | 218 (+2) | T-9th |
| Jackson Mauss | 74 | 76 | 74 | 224 (+8) | T-16th |
Jones supplied the best 54-hole total. Markham and Liechty supplied the strongest finish. Each closed with a 69, and the four BYU cards totaled 284 in the final round after 294 and 293 on Monday.
That four-player arithmetic is not an official team result. College team golf normally counts four scores from five starters, while this event had no BYU team entry. It still shows the direction of the week: three Cougars shot their best or tied-best round on Tuesday, and the group improved by ten shots from the opening session.
Jones’ floor survived the long break
Jones won the 2024 Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational as a freshman and finished that season with a 72.32 scoring average across 40 rounds. He then served a two-year mission in Peru and returned to BYU in August.
A two-year-old scoring average cannot tell the coaches what his game looks like now. Bear Creek supplied a first answer.
Jones opened with a 70, followed with a 71 and stayed in the top three with an even-par 72. The sequence did not need a rescue round. He was under par after Monday morning, under par again Monday afternoon and held his position Tuesday despite starting the final round with three bogeys.
BYU’s official account says Jones answered that start with four birdies in five holes and added another birdie at No. 15 before bogeys on the last two holes. The closing 72 left him four behind Wild and one behind Bandelier.
The last two bogeys matter because this was not a storybook return. Jones had a chance to finish second or press the lead and did not close it. His own post-round assessment, published by BYU, was that he is still knocking off rust rather than already back to his freshman sharpness.
That makes the 213 more useful, not less. Jones produced three stable rounds before he believes his game is fully back. His freshman record says the ceiling includes a college win and a 67. Bear Creek says the current floor may already be playable.
The Cougars do not have to choose between honoring the comeback and evaluating the card. A third-place 213 earns a lineup argument. It does not reserve a spot.
Markham made the largest correction
Markham’s opening 77 put him seven shots behind Jones and well outside the early lead picture. He answered with 70 and 69, an eight-shot improvement from his first round to his last.
The result matters because Markham is also returning from missionary service and had not played a college event. His 216 tied three Oklahoma players and Colorado State’s Elijah Knudsen for seventh. He finished three shots behind Jones after beginning seven behind him.
That is a more revealing debut than a flat even-par total. Markham showed the bad first card BYU fears from an inexperienced lineup option, then showed he could correct it without waiting for the next tournament. If the Les Fowler had used ordinary team scoring, his 77 would have been dangerous Monday morning. His 70 and 69 would have counted immediately after it.
Our August look at Markham’s return argued that his first useful receipt would be adjustment, not a junior-golf résumé. Bear Creek gave him exactly that: 18 poor holes followed by 36 under par.
There is still a limit to the conclusion. One rebound does not establish a weekly floor. It does put Markham into the same lineup conversation as freshmen Drake Harvey and Austin Shelley, who have already posted counting scores in team events.
Liechty and Mauss kept the competition crowded
Liechty’s 73-76-69 card carried the same broad shape as his BYU debut at Vuori, where he shot 73-82-70 as an individual. In both events, he finished with one of BYU’s lowest rounds after putting a damaging number in the middle.
The repetition cuts both ways. Two closing rounds of 70 or better show that his two tournament wins at Utah Tech did not vanish after the transfer. The 82 and 76 show why BYU has not been able to treat him as an automatic team card.
His final 69 at Bear Creek moved him into a tie for ninth. That is his strongest BYU finish and another reason the coaches cannot dismiss him after one high round. The next step is obvious and unglamorous: put three usable scores on the same line.
Mauss was steadier but did not go as low. His 74-76-74 totaled 224 and tied for 16th. At Vuori he was the fifth team player and shot 73-74-78, then moved outside the Tucker lineup. Bear Creek did not produce the low round that would force him back in, but a top-20 finish kept him attached to the argument.
This is what real depth looks like before it becomes comfortable. Jones had the best total. Markham and Liechty had the best closing rounds. Mauss avoided the 77-or-worse card that hurt each of the other two. Every player supplied one piece the others lacked.
The next five should be harder to name
BYU finished third at the William H. Tucker Invitational with Kihei Akina, Harvey, Parker Bunn, Angus Klintworth and Peter Kim in the team lineup. Austin Shelley played as an individual and shot 72 in all three rounds.
That weekend already left the coaches with six plausible players for five spots. The Les Fowler added four more current cards.
Akina is the clear lead player after consecutive top-five finishes. Harvey’s closing 67 in Albuquerque and Bunn’s six counting rounds across two team events give them strong cases. Kim and Klintworth each supplied two counting Tucker rounds. Shelley has not shot worse than 74 in six college rounds.
Now Jones owns a third-place finish. Markham owns a closing 69 after a bad debut round. Liechty owns another low finish and his first BYU top 10. Mauss owns prior team experience and a top 20.
No honest reading turns ten players into ten equal options. The tournaments, course demands and pressure were different. Bear Creek was an individual event, and nobody had to protect a four-score team total. Jones’ 213 stands out from the rest, while Markham, Liechty and Mauss still have obvious volatility or scoring gaps to solve.
The point is that BYU can now make choices with fall evidence instead of old résumés. Jones’ return is no longer theoretical. Markham has a college scorecard. Liechty has twice finished a BYU event with a low round. Mauss has answered his dropped 78 with three rounds no worse than 76.
The men’s golf schedule next lists Big 12 Match Play on Oct. 12-14 at Salt Lake Country Club. Match play will not reward the same profile as a 54-hole stroke-play event. One bad hole can be lost without wrecking an entire card, and a player who makes enough birdies can create pressure even with a volatile total.
That format could help Markham and Liechty, whose final 69s came after rougher earlier rounds. It could also favor Jones if his steady Bear Creek floor holds while his sharper pre-mission game returns.
Jones did not win Tuesday, and BYU did not enter a team. The Cougars still left Colorado with something they needed: four top-20 finishes from four players who were not on the Tucker team card. The next lineup sheet should take longer to write.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: Jones takes third at the Les Fowler Colorado Invitational for Jones’ return, round sequence, birdie and bogey details, all four BYU finishes and his directly sourced assessment of his game.
- Air Force Athletics: official Les Fowler final results for the 45-player order and every 54-hole score used in the table.
- BYU Athletics: Cooper Jones player record for his 2023-24 scoring average, Bridgestone win, previous top-five count and mission record.
- BYU Athletics: 2026-27 preseason roster outlook for Jones’ return, Liechty’s transfer résumé and the Markham/Harvey/Shelley additions.
- Utah Athletics: Colorado tournament preview for independent confirmation that the Les Fowler was an individual event at Bear Creek and a development opportunity for players outside regular team cards.
- BYU Sport Nuts: men’s golf hub, roster, Tucker recap and Vuori recap.
