Mazzoli puts his game into overdrive in Orlando

Stefano Mazzoli, who earlier this year won the European Amateur in Senica, Slovakia, finished strong yesterday with a 68 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Orlando International Am. On Tuesday’s second round, Mazzoli kept the momentum going his way by carding an eagle on the 512-yard, par-5 second hole for the second day in a row, then followed that with a birdie on No. 3. Mazolli took advantage of three par 5s on the inward nine (Nos. 10, 14 and 18) at the Orange County National Golf Center, collecting birdies on each of them, and went birdie-bogey-birdie to finish his round with a 6-under par 66, five shots ahead University of Florida freshman Kyler Tate. Tate got off to a rough spot by posting bogeys on three of the first four holes, but birdie on No. 5 and an eagle on the 562-yard, par 5 seventh hole seemed to settle him down. He birdied Nos. 14 and 18 to finish his second round with a 3-under 69 (139 total). Austria’s Sepp Straka, who is co-captain of his Georgia Bulldogs team, had one of the more interesting rounds. He went 4-under on the front nine, but struggled over a three-hole span on the back nine going bogey, triple bogey, bogey on 12 on holes 12-14. He quickly redeemed himself with three consecutive birdies to finish out his round with a 2-under 70. He is currently tied for third with Sweden’s Oskar Bergqvist with a 3-under 141. About one-third of the field is still on the course at the time of this posting. Please watch for updates as they come in.