Cohen tops 64-man bracket at Arizona Amateur
Gavin Cohen (Arizona Daily Star)
RIO VERDE, Ariz. (July 30, 2018) – The match-play bracket is set after two rounds of stroke play at the Arizona Amateur. Gavin Cohen followed an opening 65 with a second-round 69 at Tonto Verde Golf Club to take the top spot among the 64 players who will move on to the next stage of the tournament.
Cohen, a sophomore at the University of Arizona, piled on the birdies at the end of his first-round 6-under 65 – think birdieing the four final holes – but he sprinkled them throughout Tuesday’s second round. At 9 under, he was one shot ahead of No. 2 seed George Markham, who had four birdies in his final five holes Tuesday for a 68.
Three playes tied for third at 7 under, including Nic Beno, Jimmy Kozikowski and Blake Lorenz.
The round of the day on Tuesday went to Ali Hameed, who just finished his sophomore season at Southern Utah University. Hameed had a bogey-free 64 that included six birdies and an eagle.
Sam Triplett, medalist at this event in 2016, may not have been near the top of the leaderboard, but he was inside the top 64. It’s all that mattered Tuesday as the tournament resets now with a new format. Triplett, son of longtime PGA Tour player Kirk Triplett, had rounds of 69-75 to finish at 1 over, good for a tie for 29th. He will have the No. 32 seed on the match-play bracket on Wednesday. Triplett recently completed his senior season at Northwestern.
ABOUT THE Arizona Amateur
The event will play host to a maximum field size of 156
players for qualifying rounds, with the field cut to the
top 64 players for the match play championship, all
competing in one division. The event will consist of a
36-hole qualifier, followed by a 64-player match play
championship.
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