Feb. 7, 2013

Amer Ari Second Round

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii - Stanford is in ninth place at four-under-par 572 Thursday heading into the final round of the Amer Ari Invitational at the Waikoloa Kings' Course on the Big Island.

Stanford had three even-par finishes and two comeback scores from sophomore Patrick Rodgers and junior Cameron Wilson for a two-under-par 285 second round.

Two early birdies and an eagle pushed Rodgers to a two-under-par 70 leading the team on the second day. Rodgers, who was overcome by bogeys at the start of the tournament, came back strong after an initial five-over-par finish.

"I was comfortable with my game [in the first round] but things just didn't go my way," said Rodgers who is tied for 65th at three under par. "So in the second round, I just tried to continue feeling comfortable, hitting good shots, and capitalizing on the opportunities. I got off to a pretty shaky start, missed a few putts, but didn't hit the ball quite as well as I did yesterday, [although] I did a much better job at managing my round and scoring better."

Wilson, who was facing a two-over-par deficit, finished one-under with four birdies on the front nine to tie him for 45th.

"My goal was to be very patient with myself," said Wilson. "The rounds were long and with the green grass around the green there's potential to get a few weird bounces. My goal was to be patient, accepting of the bounces good or bad, and take advantage of the par-5s."

Ten teams, including Stanford, shot under par today, mixing the leaderboard landscape. Washington (555) completed the second round with a 13-under-par first-place finish, overtaking UCLA by two strokes while the Cardinal held on.

"The guys battled hard and made a lot of nice pars," said The Knowles Family Director of Golf Conrad Ray. "We needed a little bit more offense today. I think they felt like they could have made a little bit more birdies while some other teams went lower than we did. I think it all evens out in the end."

Seniors Andrew Yun and Steve Kearney, along with freshman David Boote, kept their birdies and bogeys balanced for even-par finishes.

Kearney, who led the team yesterday, is tied for 16th and continues to be the team frontrunner at three-under. Following close behind is Yun tied for 30th at one-under. Also with two steady rounds, Boote tied for 45th at one-over.  

"I had a couple of birdies early on and unfortunately could not finish it off in the end with a couple of silly bogies," said Boote. "But it was an improvement by one shot from yesterday so I'm fairly happy."

Individual Shane Lebow finished four-over for a second round of 76. The junior now ties 89th at six over par.  

Heading into the final round, what they learned the first two days will play out.

"I think they managed their mental games in fashion today and hopefully they'll come out aggressive tomorrow with a lot of confidence," said Ray. "We haven't played our best round of the tournament yet and we're waiting for that tomorrow."

- By Estela-Marie Go, Stanford Athletics

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