PHOENIX – On the strength of an 8-under score, UT Arlington senior Kyle Cox resides in 1st place, Paul Gonzalez set the program's all-time record for birdies and the Mavericks sit in a tie for 4th place just six shots back of the leader through nearly two rounds of the suspended Grand Canyon Invitational on Monday.
 
Cox posted an opening-round 66 on the par-71 layout and was -3 with three holes to play in his 2nd round when the horn blew, suspending play for the day due to darkness. Cox – who already has two eagles in the tournament – still has a par 5 among three holes remaining to conclude his 2nd round when play resumes at approximately 7:15 a.m. Pacific (9:15 Central) on Tuesday.
 
The Carrollton, Texas, native will sleep on a two-shot lead as he's a couple strokes clear of a duo of players and three clear of 4th place. The 120-player field will roll right into the 3rd, and final, round following the completion of the 2nd round.
 
When action resumes, the Mavs will be looking to chase down host and current leader Grand Canyon at -13. UTA is currently tied with Creighton for 4th place at -7 – six shots clear of 6th-place TCU (-1) thanks to a 1st-round 279 (-5) and a current score of -2 in its 2nd round with four of its five players having three holes remaining (Daniel Steinarsson: four holes).
 
As for Gonzalez, the senior rolled in a closing birdie in the shotgun-start format on the par-4, 349-yard 4th hole in the 1st round for the 388th of his career, surpassing the previous all-time program of 387 held by Bobby Massa from 2007-10.
 
UTA SCORES
Team
T-4) UT Arlington: 279 (-5) | -7 Thru 15 Holes In 2nd Round
 
Lineup
1) Kyle Cox: 66 (-5) | -3 Thru 15 Holes In 2nd Round
T-15) Caleb Hicks: 70 (-1) | -2 Thru 15 Holes In 2nd Round
T-38) Zak Jones: 71 (E) | +1 Thru 15 Holes In 2nd Round
T-49) Daniel Steinarsson: 72 (+1) | +2 Thru 15 Holes In 2nd Round
T-95) Paul Gonzalez: 74 (+3) | +8 Thru 15 Holes In 2nd Round
 
INSIDE THE SCORES
 
Cox

• The opening-round 66 for Cox started inauspiciously with a bogey on his first hole, the par-4 4th. However, from there the southpaw rattled off four birdies and an eagle to move his card to -5 before giving one back on the long, par-4 1st. Cox immediately countered that with a birdie on the par-3 2nd before closing with a par.
   
• In his 2nd round, Cox was +1 through three holes, but a birdie on the 8th, another on the 14th and then his second eagle of the day on the par-5 18th wrapped up his evening as the horn blew.

Hicks

• Hicks was even on his round after nine holes before starting a five-hole stretch in which he alternated birdies and bogeys to eventually come out of that portion of the course at -1 on his day and then parred in over his final four holes for his sixth sub-par round of the year.
   
• In his 2nd round, Hicks so far has rolled in 12 pars in 15 holes and resides at -1 thanks to a pair of birdies and one bogey.

Jones

• A steady and consistent round was turned in by Jones to open his tournament, which included a pair of birdies over his final five holes to post a level-par round.
   
• An opening birdie on the 6th to commence his 2nd round was unfortunately followed up with a double bogey on the 7th, but Jones got his card back into red figures with a trio of birdies on the back 9. He sits at +1 heading to the par-5 3rd when play resumes on Tuesday.

Steinarsson

• Steinarsson put nothing on his card higher than a bogey in an adventurous 1st round which included five birdies and six bogeys en route to the 72.
   
• Sitting at +2 through eight holes, the Icelander played the next four holes in birdie-birdie-bogey-birdie to get himself back to even before wrapping up his Monday action with a bogey. He'll have four holes to play in his 2nd round, including a par 5 and a 349-yard par 4.

Gonzalez

• Gonzalez got off to a slow start as he resided at +4 through his first nine holes, including a three-hole stretch in which he went from even to 4-over. But he settled in and carded eight-straight pars before wrapping up his round with a closing birdie on the 4th to set the aforementioned career record for birdies.
   
• Another uncharacteristically-slow start for Gonzalez began his 2nd round, and aside from a birdie on the par-5 10th wasn't able to get much forward progress going on Monday.

THIS AND THAT
The two eagles for Cox give him now 14 for his career, moving him into a tie atop the all-time program record list along with Cash Wilkerson from 2011-15 … Cox's 14 eagles have now come in 84 career rounds (once the 2nd round is complete); anyone else in program history with more than 10 eagles played in at least 105 career rounds.
 
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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 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.