Cole Hammer extends AJGA Junior Players Championship lead
9/3/2016 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff
see also: View results for Junior Players, TPC at Sawgrass - Stadium Course
Cole Hammer will carry a four-stroke lead into the final round at Sawgrass Country Club
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL (September 3, 2016) -- With his second straight 5-under 67 Cole Hammer continues to lead the AJGA Junior Players Championship with one day remaining. Hammer, 10-under, will carry a four-stroke lead into the final round at Sawgrass Country Club.
Hammer began his second round just like he did the first with a birdie on his first hole to move to 6-under. Three more front nine birdies followed as the Texas commit reached 9-under and turned in 4-under 32.
On the back nine Hammer briefly reached 10-under with a birdie on the 10th but gave it back with his first bogey of the week on the 14th. After a short weather delay Hammer finished his round in style with a closing birdie.
Both Bryan Teoh Wiyang and Khavish Varadan will begin the final round tied for second at 6-under and four shots back.
Wiyang followed up his first round 4-under 68 with a 2-under 70. During his second round Wiyang birdied three holes and bogeyed one.
Varadan fired the round of the tournament and shot up the leaderboard with a 7-under 65. Even for the day through six holes and 1-over for the week Varadan got rolling with an eagle on the par-5 8th.
Now at 1-under Varadan birdied the 10th before recording his second eagle in three holes on the par-5 11th. With his score now to 4-under Varadan birdied the 14th and 15th holes to reach 6-under.
Akshay Bhatia, Trey Winstead and Dan Erickson are tied for fourth at 4-under.
ROUND ONE RECAP
Cole Hammer began his week at the AJGA Junior Players Championship with a bogey-free five-under 67 to take the first round lead. Hammer will carry a one-stroke advantage into the second round at Sawgrass Country Club.
After tee times were delayed until 1:00 p.m. due to weather the Texas commitment jump-started his round with a birdie on the opening hole. Hammer carded his second birdie on the 6th as he turned in 2-under 34.
On the back nine Hammer, who played in the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay as a 15-year-old, quickly moved to 4-under with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. His final birdie came on 18th hole as he bookmarked his round.
Bryan Teoh Wiyang will begin play on Saturday in second place and just one off the pace following a 4-under 68. Wiyang was 1-over after 12-holes but closed with a flurry of birdies, five in the last six holes to be exact. The only hole he didn't birdie during his closing run was No. 15.
Akshay Bhatia is in third place at 3-under following an eagle on par-5 3rd, four birdies and three bogeys. Three players are tied for fourth at 2-under; Dan Erickson, Trey Winstead and Sachin Kumar.
About the Junior Players
One of the AJGA series of tournaments that require an invitation to participate. Format is 54 holes of stroke play.
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