Last time they were there, they had the pouring rain to blame. This time, they could only blame themselves. At least until today.

After two rounds of play in the Pacific-10 Conference Championship in sunny Eugene, Ore., the No. 22 Arizona men’s golf team stands tied with Washington State for seventh place.

“”Conditions were perfect,”” UA head coach Rick LaRose said. “”We can’t blame it on the conditions. USC shot 18-under par in the second round on the same course we were on.””

The Wildcats hit 9-over 369 in the first round and 4-over 364 in the second round, giving them a 13-over 733 total after 36 holes on the 7,033 yard-course at Eugene Country Club.

“”It’s a little disappointing,”” LaRose said. “”We played our first six holes (1-over par as a team) pretty well, and we kind of fell apart after that.””

No. 6 USC completed the day in first place after shooting a 20-under 700. No. 7 UCLA is currently in second place after shooting a 12-under 708.

UA redshirt senior Nathan Tyler, who boasted a 72.33 stroke average coming into this tournament, led the Wildcats, finishing the first day at 3-under 141. He was the only Wildcat to finish the first two rounds under par.

“”Nathan Tyler played very well,”” LaRose said. “”Without him, we would have really been in a jam. I’m very pleased with him.””

Seniors Brian Prouty (2-over), Josh Esler (5-over), Josh Wilks (7-over) and junior Creighton Honeck (4-over) rounded out the scoring for the day for Arizona in the “”six play, count five”” tournament.

The next 18 holes of the tournament will be played today, with the final 18 slated for tomorrow.

“”We’re going to have to pick it up a little bit, close the gap, and wiggle our way up, at least into the top half of the leaderboard,”” LaRose said. “”We’re not going to give up, but it’s going to be hard to catch the top two teams.””

LaRose’s hopes are high, despite the forecasted showers in Eugene today.

“”Hopefully it will be tougher on the other teams and we will have the advantage,”” he said.