New Zealand leads after Day 2 at World Am Team; U.S. climbs

DUBLIN, Ireland (Sept. 6, 2018) – New Zealand has the lead after two rounds at Carton House for the World Amateur Team Championship. Led by a 7-under 65 from Daniel Hillier and a 6-under 66 from Denzel Ieremia on the more challenging Montgomerie Course, the team was able to take a slim one-shot lead at the halfway point of the competition. New Zealand is 20 under after two days.

“I saw there was a scoreboard on 16,” said Hillier, who shared medallist honors in the 2018 U.S. Amateur. “I didn’t even want to look at it. I just thought I’ve got a job to do and I’ve got to do it. And I managed to finish strong, which was nice.”

After a morning of rain, temperatures rose and scoring conditions improved, producing a slew of under-par scores and shifts on the scoreboard.

John Axelson was the leading man for first-round leader Denmark with a 4-under 69 on the O’Meara Course. Denmark, at 19 under, is tied for second.

Thailand climbed into a part of that tie for second after a strong second round. Thailand tied New Zealand for the best score of the day with a 13-under 131 total. Ireland, meanwhile, was 9 under on Thursday. Both teams are also 19 under for the tournament.

New Zealand and Thailand's 36-hole scores of 131 were one shot better than the previous 36-hole record of 132 recorded by Sweden in 2006 and Australia in 2016.

The Americans made a big move up the leaderboard, jumping from a tie for 19th to a tie for sixth. Collin Morikawa had 7-under 66 on the O’Meara Course and Justin Suh added 6-under 67. The U.S. is 17 under after two rounds.

Information from the USGA used in this report