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South Beach surprise: 14-year-old leads a mostly collegiate field in Florida

Henry Guan from Irving, Texas, leaves the field slack-jawed with a pair of 65's

It's been a story of youth this year at the South Beach International Amateur.

Just a day removed from having a 14-year-old shock the field with a 7-under 64, another 14-year-old named Henry Guan of Irving Texas fired his second straight 65 to claim the 36-hole lead at the prestigious South Florida tournament.
Guan holds a one-stroke lead over Auburn superstar J.M. Butler, who followed up his 64 at Normandy Monday with a 67 at Miami Beach to remain in second place.

14-year-old first-round co-leader Couilleau cooled off slightly with a 1-over par 71 at Normandy Shores on Tuesday, but he still finds himself in a three-way tie for 8th place, five shots back of the leader.

While there are still plenty of holes left to be played, the organizer of the tournament is impressed with what he has seen so far.

"If someone had told me a 14-year-old would ever be leading the South Beach I would have looked at them funny," said Executive Director Jeff Hunt, referring to the 7-under 64 posted by Frenchman Oscar Couilleau in the first round.

"If you followed that up with a second different 14-year-old leading after the second day I would have just laughed," he added.

Gorge Duangnamee of UVA stands at 9-under-par in solo third and his college teammate Deven Patel holds down fourth, another shot back at 8-under.

The whopping 86 players who made the cut is the second-highest number of players to do so in SBIA history.
AmateurGolf.com Rankings
2022 season — official results & points
PosPlayerFromScoresPoints
1Luke ClantonFL67-68-65-66=2661,000
2Henry GuanTX65-65-67-69=266700
3Jackson KoivunNC71-67-65-67=270500
+83 more — Premium members see every point earnedFull Men's National Ranking

AmateurGolf.com Staff

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