Cantafio snags 54-hole lead at Southwestern Amateur

June 17, 2022 | by Conner Penfold of AmateurGolf.com

Washington State junior Jaden Cantafio (Conner Penfold photo)

The Washington State junior will have second-round leader Gabe Salvanera breathing down his neck in Saturday's final round

Jaden Cantafio grabbed ahold of the Southwestern Amateur lead early in Friday morning's round. The Washington State junior from Tustin, Calif. carded 34 on the front side at Desert Mountain's Geronimo Course, while playing partner and 36-hole leader Gabe Salvanera made bogey or worse on five of his opening eight holes.

Salvanera battled back, though, eagling the par-5 9th and adding a couple additional birdies on the back side to nearly catch Cantafio, who shot 68 on Friday and will take a one-shot lead into Saturday's final round.

The pair of Pac-12 juniors fired two of the three lowest rounds of the tournament during Thursday's second round, with Salvanera shooting 30 on the front side en route to a 63 and Cantafio going bogey-free for 64. Colorado State graduating senior Davis Bryant matched Salvanera's 63 before turning in 1-under 70 for his third-round score. The trio will be the final group off the first tee, gunning for the title at the 107th year of this historic championship.

"Each day is a new day. Each shot is a new shot," Cantafio said after his round. "As long as you're having fun out there, that's what it's all about. It's pretty fun to shoot 64 and then a 68, so we'll see what happens tomorrow."

Cantafio had his girlfriend Audrey Weir, a midfielder for the Cougars women's soccer team, caddying for him Friday. Desert Mountain's arduous terrain makes using a cart essentially mandatory, so Weir wasn't carrying or pushing his bag. She was reading putts.

"She's been reading putts amazingly," Cantafio said. "She doesn't even play golf."

"She makes me feel really calm and keeps it fun out there," Cantafio added. "Sometimes golf can become more of a grind than fun."

Arizona State junior Gabe Salvanera hitting his third shot from the greenside bunker at the par-4 16th during the third round of the Southwestern Amateur. (Conner Penfold/AmateurGolf.com)

Salvanera's opening nine spelled disaster, as he sat 5 over while standing on the 9th green. That's where things turned a corner.

"That eagle putt on 9 really helped," Salvanera said. "I didn't see much fall today and had a bunch of three-putts so making that 15-footer helped a lot."

Scoring was significantly tougher Friday, with just five players signing for scores in the 60s and only another six breaking par. Oregon State incoming freshman Rylan Johnson was one of those six 1-under par rounds of 70, and like Salvanera, it took adversity to overcome a potentially detrimental start.

After a double-bogey at the par-5 1st and bogeys on holes 5 and 6, the Gilbert, Ariz. native would rattle off birdies at 7 and 8, followed by an eagle at 9. He sits in fourth place, five back of the lead and a shot clear of first-round leader Shea Lague in fifth.

Results: Southwestern Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Davis Bryant	Aurora, CO	700	71-63-70-68=272
2	Gabriel Salvanera	Queen Creek, AZ	500	67-63-72-72=274
T3	Lucas Carper	San Jose, CA	400	66-68-75-66=275
T3	Rylan Johnson	Gilbert, AZ	400	70-66-70-69=275
5	Jaden Cantafio	Tustin, CA	400	69-64-68-75=276

View full results for Southwestern Amateur

About the Southwestern Amateur

Cantafio snags 54-hole lead at Southwestern Amateur

The Southwestern Men's Amateur Golf Championship is a prestigious 72-hole stroke play competition open to top national-level amateurs holding a handicap index of 1.4 or better. Following the first 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 36 players...