Cox and Knowles Share 54-hole Rice Planters Lead

MT. PLEASANT, SC (June 24, 2016) -- Chad Cox vaulted into a share of the lead Friday with a third-round 64. The 8-under par round is the round of the tournament so far and puts the N.C. State redshirt senior into a tie for the lead at 7-under with Philip Knowles. The pair sits one-shot clear off Eddie Wadja III and second round leader Tripp French. Defending Champion William Rainey is five-shots back at 2-under. The final round will begin at 8am local time Saturday. ROUND TWO STORY It was all Tripp French on the second day of the Rice Planters Amateur at Rivertowne Country Club. French, a junior at Dayton is 5-under and will carry a one-stroke lead into Friday's third round following a bogey-free 66. The 2015-2016 Atlantic 10 All-Conference first teamer started the day 1-over before exploding on Thursday. French didn't take long to get going as he birdied holes 2-5. Following a run of pars French turned in 4-under 32 and then tallied two more birdies on the backside to close his 6-under day. Wisconsin junior Eddie Wajda III moved into second place with a 4-under 72. Thursday was a five birdie, one bogey day for Wajda III. Phillip Knowles (North Florida), Will Grimmer (Ohio State), James Anstiss (Southeastern Louisiana) and Logan Yates are all in fourth place at 2-under. First round leader Kevin Yuan undid most of his work through the first two days on two holes. Yuan, from Sydney, Australia reached 6-under and was 1-under for the day until he double-bogeyed 15 and triple-bogeyed 16. The two hole stretch dropped Yuan to 1-under and an eighth place tie. ROUND ONE RECAP Kevin Yuan put together a first round 5-under 67 and he leads the Rice Planters Amateur by two shots. Yuan leads four players who are tied for second place at 3-under at RiverTowne Country Club. Kuan, from Sydney, Australia began his day with a birdie on No. 1, before rolling in another one on the 4th. After a pair of pars, Kuan closed the front nine in style with three consecutive birdies as he turned in 5-under 31. On the back nine, Kuan reached 7-under for his opening round before giving two shots back with bogeys on 15 and 17. James Yoon (California), Jamie Wilson, Ian Hildebrand (Virginia Tech) and Kennan Huskey (South Carolina) all shot opening 3-under 69's to share second place. Five players are tied for sixth place at 2-under while another five players are 1-under and only four behind. This year's Rice Planters Amateur is being played away from its home course for the first time in 43 years. The tournament is usually contested at Snee Farm Country Club but had to be moved to River Towne Country Club this year due to a greens refurbishing project.