PALM DESERT, CA (May 1, 2017) - The weather wasn't the only thing on fire Monday at the 34th SCGA Mid-Amateur Championship. Dan Sullivan, who last summer advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, blazed Ironwood CC for 36 holes to hold a 6-stroke lead heading into the tournament's final round Tuesday. Sullivan fired rounds of 67 and 66 to sit at 11-under par for the day, which featured temperatures consistently in the high 90s.
The strong play from Sullivan was a constant all day. He began Round 1 by carding three straight birdies, and would later put together a stretch on his back nine in which he would birdie four of six holes. His second round would start similarly, with an eagle on the par-5, 480-yard second hole en route to a front nine 31.
Looking up at Sullivan on the leaderboard is Trae Cassell of Indio, who put together solid rounds of 68 and 71 for a total of 5-under. A quartet of competitors sit T3 at 4-under par, including Mark Manwaring of Long Beach, who shot the low round of the day in the afternoon, carding six birdies and one eagle in the bogey-free round that catapulted him from T46 on the leaderboard to T3. Kevin Fitzgerald, Bowen Osborn and Kyle Rector also sit at 4-under.
For Sullivan, winning the SCGA Mid-Amateur would cross a huge item off of his golf bucket list. With a number of team SCGA titles on his resume, and an SCGA Public Links victory in the books, Sullivan recently named the SCGA Mid-Amateur as a Championship that would be extra special to win.
Round three begins Tuesday at 7:30, with groups going off both 1 and 10 tees. The leaders tee off at 8:33 a.m.
Dan Sullivan takes six-stroke SCGA Mid-Amateur Lead
Sullivan, who lost to Scott Harvey in the semi-finals of the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am, posted 66 and 67 at Palm Desert's Ironwood G.C.