Southeastern Am: Will Chandler goes low to take the lead

Moving day was executed to near perfection for Georgia’s Will Chandler. Starting the day 3-under, Chandler took advantage of prime conditions at the Country Club of Columbus. Two strokes back of round one leaders Colin Bowles and Bryce Lewis, Chandler quickly made it up, beginning his second round with back-to-back birdies on No. 1 and 2. Making the turn three shots better than he did on Tuesday, Chandler was simply in the zone as he started the back nine. Catching fire, Chandler birdied four straight holes (11-14) and adding another on his final hole of the day to post a back nine 29. Flirting with the course record of 61 set in the third round of last year’s Southeastern Amateur by defending champ and CCC member Ben Carr, Chandler’s 62 allows Carr to sleep a bit easier. The bogey-less second round vaulted Chandler into first place with 18-holes left to crown the 2020 Southeastern champion. Round one leaders Bowles and Lewis once again matched each other with 67s, finding themselves primed for the 18-hole sprint alongside Georgia Tech’s Connor Howe who posted a 65 on Wednesday. Howe and Lewis will be paired with Chandler for Thursday’s final round as they will tee off at 12:20 pm ET. Bowles (-8), Alex Goff (-7) (Kentucky), and Nicholas Infanti (-7) (North Florida) are all within earshot of the lead and will be one group ahead of Chandler and company. Defending champ Ben Carr (Georgia Southern) is five off the lead at 6-under and will tee off at 11:50 am ET. Normally a 72-hole event, the Southeastern cut the event one round short to accommodate for COVID-19. No cut was instituted for this year’s championship.