Ideriha and Araki lead Australian Master of Amateurs
Taichiro Ideriha
The Japanese duo of
Taichiro Ideriha and
Yuna Araki enjoy slim leads at the halfway point of the Australian Master of the Amateurs being held at the Southern Golf Club in Melbourne.
Ideriha followed an opening round 67 with a 3-under 69 on Wednesday to open up a two-stroke lead over England's
John Gough and
Gregor Tait, who both sit at 6-under 138.
Six other golfers are within four strokes of the lead heading into Thursday's third round.
Ideriha got off to a hot start and collected five birdies on his outward nine to make the turn in 32. He played steady golf on Southern's back nine with eight pars to along with just one bogey for a 3-under round of 69.
After shooting a course record 8-under 64 in the first round, Gough came home 10 strokes higher on Wednesday but is just two off the pace at 6-under 138. The Englishman didn't fare as well on his inward nine in his second round, shooting 3-over 39 compared to yesterday when he was 4-under on the same holes.
After a rocky front nine which saw Tait go out in 2-over 38, the Scot settled the ship and picked up three birdies on holes 10, 11 and 15 to finish with a 1-under par round of 71.
Lukas Michel of Australia, who won the
2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Colorado Golf Club, followed an opening round 70 with a 3-under 39 to shoot nine spots up the leaderboard into a tie for fourth with fellow Aussie
Jack Tanner at 5-under 139. Michel is looking for his second Australia Master of the Amateurs title in three years after
having won the championship in 2021.
In the women's division, Araki followed her course record 67 with a 1-over 74 on Wednesday but still maintains a one-stroke lead on the field heading into the third round.
At 5-under 141, Araki is one stroke clear of
Hsin Chun Liao of Chinese Taipei, who carded a 1-under 72 on Wednesday.
Kate McFarlane of Australia and
2022 Australian Women's Amateur champion
Fiona Xu, both at 1-under, are the only other two golfers in red numbers at the halfway point.
There will be a 54-hole cut after tomorrow's third round.
ABOUT THE Master of the Amateurs
The Master of the Amateurs, a 72-hole medal play
Championship,
has rapidly become one of the
elite championships in amateur golf. Like The
Masters, the champion
receives a Green Jacket. Contestants
participate in the first round of the
championship with professional golfers in a
unique Am-Pro Invitational.
The Master of the Amateurs winner gets an
invitation to the Porter
Cup in the U.S. Likewise the winners of those
two tournaments receive invitations to the
next Master of the Amateurs tournament.
A qualifying round (see tournament
website for date and handicap requirement)
allows
three non-exempt players to earn invitations
into the prestigious field.
View Complete Tournament Information