Jack Buchanan leads after two rounds at 56th Pacific Coast Amateur

After opening with a 5-under 65 in round one, Jack Buchanan of Australia followed it up with another 65 today, grabbing a two-shot lead after two rounds at the 56th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, hosted this week from July 25-28 at Capilano Golf and Country Club.

Buchanan entered the day tied for the lead with Jose Islas of Mexico. He started strongly, birdieing three of the first five holes to quickly build some separation from the rest of the field. He maintained the momentum throughout the round, carding three more birdies on the back-nine against just one bogey – his first and only bogey of the championship thus far.

Buchanan is one of seven Australians in the field this week. He has played in five Elite Amateur Series events this year, highlighted by a round of 16 finish at the North and South Amateur.

Playing in the final group tomorrow, Buchanan will be joined by 19-year-old Cooper Jones from Highland, Utah, and Jayden Ford from New Zealand. Both Jones and Ford sit at 8-under par, two shots off the lead and tied for second place.

In the Morse Cup team competition, the team from the Arizona Golf Association captured the title for the first time since 1988. The team comprised of Joe Neuheisel from Scottsdale, Ariz., Mahanth Chirravuri from Chandler, Ariz., and Chris Kamin from Phoenix, Ariz., finished at 12-under par after two rounds, three shots clear of second place.

The Morse Cup team competition took place concurrently during the first two days of the championship. The Pacific Coast Golf Association consists of 15 member Pacific Rim golf associations, and each association selected three players to represent them in the team competition. The two top scores from each team in rounds one and two will count for the Morse Cup portion of the event.

Jayden Ford of New Zealand and Omar Morales of Mexico tied for the low round of the championship after both firing a 6-under 64 in today’s second round.

Round one co-leader, Jose Islas of Mexico shot a 1-over 71 in today’s round. He sits T12 entering the third round.

The four players participating this week, who were in the top 10 of the Elite Amateur Cup points race entering this championship, all sit at T15 or better: Sebastian Moss of Houston, Tex., Kazuma Kobori of New Zealand, Neal Shipley of Pittsburgh, Penn., and Davis Bryant of Aurora, Colo.

A total of 32 players are under par after the first two rounds of the championship. The 521-yard par-5 No. 5 continues to play as the easiest hole in the championship, yielding a total of nine eagles and 87 birdies through two rounds.

The 436-yard par-4 No. 10 and the 427-yard par-4 No. 15 both tied as the most difficult holes in the second round with a scoring average of 4.36.