ATLANTA, Georgia (July 2, 2015) -- At Druid Hills, there was a changing of the guard as the early leaders struggled to break par. Sometimes it's hard to back up a low round, especially the 8-under 64s that both Chad Tuten and Ashton Van Horne fired on Weds.
While Tuten struggled today and posted 76, to fall out of the top 10, Van Horne managed to stay within close range of new leader Dawson Armstrong, despite faltering to a 4-over 40 on his back nine. That's because he was tearing Druid Hills apart prior to that.
Starting on the 10th hole, Van Horne birdied, then holed out for eagle on the 352-yard par 4 12th, and made three more birdies and a bogey to get to 13- under after just 27 holes of play. Alas, that back nine eliminated the prospect of a 36-hole tournament record, but did not ruin Van Horne's chances for the weekend.
The new leader, a former top ranked junior golfer from Tennessee who now plays for Lipscomb University, is Dawson Armstrong. He played bogey free golf today, adding a 6-under 66 to his first round 67 to stand at 11-under at the tournament's halfway point. That positions him directly in front of future Oklahoma player Brad Dalke, who made 9 birdies today and posted the low round of 65.
|
Brad Dalke Arm Wrestling
with
Rory McIlroy |
Dalke, from Edmond, Oklahoma, has quite a backstory. At 12 years old, he verbally committed to attend Oklahoma, where his dad was a linebacker. His game has steadily improved and he's finishing the tail end of his junior career and head for OU this fall. In April, those linebacker genes were put into good use in an arm wrestling match against Rory McIlroy at the Sage Valley Junior Invitational, which he won.
“His bicep balled up so I think he was trying,” Dalke told Golfweek at the time. “I took all my anger out from my 85"
“Working out and having good linebacker genetics is the secret… But he was a great guy. Pretty cool way to end my career at Sage Valley.”
As for a coach recruiting a 12 year old player back in 2010? At the time, Dalke was ranked below 500th in the Golfweek/Sagarin junior rankings. Now, he's in the top 5. And apparently ready to compete at the college level.