SAN ANTONIO – UT Arlington's Paul Gonzalez fired rounds of even-par 72 and 2-under 70 on Monday to open UTSA's Lone Star Invitational from the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio, and he is tied for the overall lead entering Tuesday's final round.
 
Gonzalez led the Mavericks to rounds of 300 and 299 on the extremely challenging 7,435-yard Oaks Course, which plays host to the PGA TOUR's Valero Texas Open. The Mavs are in sole possession of 6th place with a 599 total (+23) – only 11 shots out of 2nd place (New Mexico State, 588) in the tightly compact field.
 
Host UTSA leads the 13-team field following impressive rounds of 293 and 280 for a 573 (-3) total as the Roadrunners are the only team under par.
 
For Gonzalez, the Waxahachie product is tied for the overall lead at -2 along with UTSA teammates Michael Rome and Hunter Bott. Fabian Sunden of Texas State resides in 4th place alone at -1 as those four are the only players under par through 36 holes. In fact, only six players in the 75-player field are not over par entering the final round.
 
UTA SCORES
T-1) Paul Gonzalez: 72-70 (-2)
T-19) Hiroki Miya: 74-75 (+5)
T-35) Daniel Steinarsson: 74-78 (+8)
T-50) Caleb Hicks: 80-76 (+12)
T-59) Daniel Cronje: 81-78 (+15)
 
Individual
T-41) Alberto Menacho: 75-78 (+9)
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
Gonzalez

• Opened his 1st round going bogey-birdie-birdie-bogey before carding seven-straight pars heading to the 12th tee. He went bogey-birdie on 12 and 13, made three pars over 14-16 and closed bogey-birdie on 17-18 to complete the even-par 72 with four birdies, four bogeys and 11 pars.
• Gonzalez started the 2nd round with a bogey on the 1st hole, but three birdies offset three bogeys on the front side as he went out in 36. Another bogey to start the back 9 pushed his card to +1, but from there he flawless as Gonzalez rolled in birdies on holes 11, 14 and 17 to shoot -2 on the homeward side.

Miya

• Began his morning on the par-3, 213-yard 3rd and rolled in a pair of birdies and bogeys on the front before converting five-straight pars to begin the back side. A back-nine 36 kept keep his card at level before an unfortunate double on the par-4 1st moved him to +2 which is where he finished the first 18 of the day.
• Miya made a bogey on the 4th, a double bogey on the 8th and another bogey on the 10th to begin round two, but after that he made eight-straight pars before a birdie on the par-4 1st and another closing par on the par-5 2nd.

Steinarsson

• Also opened his 1st round on the 3rd hole, but made bogeys on two of his first four holes. However, the Icelander settled down nicely and played holes 7-17 in -1 with a birdie on the par-5 14th. A bogey on 18 moved his card back to +2 for the round, which is what he signed for in the opening round.
• In round two, Steinarsson alternated a bogey and birdie to start, but his card resided at +6 heading to 17 before converting his first birdie of the round on the short par 4. He closed with pars on 18 and 1 to cap the round of 78.

Hicks

• Opened bogey-double bogey on holes 1 and 2 and couldn't recover or get anything going in the 1st round, despite seven-consecutive pars to close the front side after that +3 start.
• Unfortunately, not much changed for Hicks in his second 18 of the day as he shot a 76. However, he was able to convert his first birdie of the day on the par-5 14th – one week after leading the Mavs in birdies at La Tech's Jim Rivers Intercollegiate with 13.

Cronje

• Cronje uncharacteristically made four double bogeys in the 1st round, preventing him from getting any momentum going. His lone birdie of the opening 18 came on the par-4 11th.
• A triple bogey on his opening hole – the par-5 2nd – put Cronje behind the pace immediately in the 2nd round, and he couldn't recover en route to a +6 round. His lone birdie came on the par-5 18th.

Menacho

• Playing as an individual, Menacho teed off on the 16th hole. He sat at +4 through the opening nine holes of the 1st round, but closed strong by playing his final nine holes in -1, including three birdies.
• In the 2nd round, Menacho rolled in five birdies, but was set back by a flurry of bogeys or doubles as he made just four pars.

THIS AND THAT
UTA leads the field with 113 pars through two rounds … Gonzalez leads all players in par-3 scoring at 2.50 (-4) … he also continued his assault on the par 5s as he is tied for the field lead in that scoring average at 4.50 (-4) … Gonzalez's 10 birdies are tied for the 2nd-most in the field to only Bott's 11 … Miya's 25 pars are tied for the 2nd-most in the field … Menacho's eight birdies are tied for the 7th-most in the field … Hicks converted 24 pars to tie for the 8th-most in the field … the scoring average for the day was nearly five shots over par at 76.62 … the 2020 Lone Star Invitational was canceled due to COVID-19, but the last time it was contested in 2019 UTA was declared co-champions along with Houston and South Alabama
 
FINAL ROUND
The final round commences with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. on Tuesday – a change from the original time of 8:30. UTA lineup players will tee off between holes 4-7, while Menacho will start on the 18th. Hole-by-hole live scoring will once again be available via Golfstat.
 
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ABOUT TEXAS RANGERS GOLF CLUB
Opened in February of 2019, the state-of-the-art Texas Rangers Golf Club is the new home of UTA's men's and women's golf programs. The world's only Major League Baseball-branded golf course, TRGC is the result of a $24 million renovation and updated routing of the former Chester W. Ditto Golf Course.
 
The Home of UTA Golf was designed by UTA alumni John Colligan and Trey Kemp of Arlington-based Colligan Golf Design. It features an expansive 23-acre practice area, and a new 33,871-square-foot clubhouse – which just opened in March of 2021 – features a full-service restaurant and bar, covered patio overlooking the golf course, pro shop, locker rooms and numerous rental and event spaces. For more information about TRGC, click here.