Fernandez de Oliveira maintains lead at South American Am

SANTIAGO, Chile (Jan. 10, 2019) – Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira maintained his lead Friday at the South American Amateur, even as he dropped several shots from his opening 7-under 65. The teenager from Argentina backed up to a 73 at Club de Golf Los Leones, but still managed to retain a one-shot advantage.

Fernandez de Oliveira had too many bogeys and not enough birdies to cover them. He lost a stroke to par, and at 6 under is one shot ahead of Chile’s Gabriel Morgan Burke, who had 66 to reach 5 under.

Burke’s most recent victory dates to 2017 at a Chilean Amateur event. He has mostly competed in his home country, but also played the Pacific Coast Amateur last summer in San Francisco, where he finished 55th.

As for Fernandez de Oliveira, most of the teenager’s success on the golf course came in his native Argentina in 2018. He represented his country at the World Amateur Team Championship in September (Argentina was T-18) and also made significant starts at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and the IMG Junior World Championship. Last week, he finished 21st at the Junior Orange Bowl in Miami, Fla.

Two more Argentinians are part of a three-way tie for third at 4 under. Those players are Federico Shin and Horacio Carbonetti, who had rounds of 70 and 73 on Friday, respectively.

Luis Gagne, LSU senior from Costa Rica who tied for low-amateur honors at the 2018 U.S. Open, is also at 4 under after an even-par 72.

Defending championship Cris Crisologo, a Canadian, and Toto Gana, the 2017 Latin America Amateur champion, highlight a group at 3 under. Each made a significant climb up the leaderboard in Round 2 with rounds of 69 and 70, respectively.