02 Sep 2022 | Amateur golf |
Aussies make a move at World Amateur Team Championships
by Dane Heverin
The Australian men are tied for seventh place at ten-under par on the Eisenhower Trophy standings after a fruitful second round at the World Amateur Team Championship in Paris.
Connor McKinney was Australia's standout performer as he shot a four-under par round of 67 at Le Golf National, while Harrison Crowe's one-under effort ensured that the men in green and gold went five-under par for a second straight day.
The Australians trail leaders Japan - who broke the 36-hole record score at the event - by 12 strokes at the halfway mark of the tournament, but McKinney is confident that they can ride the wave of momentum created late on Thursday to keep moving up the leaderboard.
"It felt really good when Crowey told me he hold a 30-footer at the last to get us to double figures. It's a big confidence boost and it's a big couple of days ahead," McKinney said.
The Australian Amateur champion was rock solid throughout the majority of his second round with just the one bogey to offset his five birdies as he moved up 22 places into a share of 17th in the individual standings at five-under - ten shots behind Japanese leader Taiga Semikawa.
"I got off to a slower start with a pretty soft bogey at two and then I managed to string a few birdies together at three, five and six," he said.
"That was a pretty big confidence booster going into the back nine. I let a couple slip by but I finished pretty strong in the end. It was a pretty solid day in the end.
"It was kind of bogey avoidance in a sense. It's kind of hard because you're trying to shoot up the leaderboard of course, but the wind picked up a little and you really have to be careful where you're hitting it. I did that pretty well."
Crowe had a rollercoaster round with six birdies and five bogeys to be four-under par for the event, while Hayden Hopewell had a disappointing three-over round to slip back to one-over.
The Australian trio return to Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche for Friday's third round where they will tee it up alongside the German and Welsh teams who are also tied for seventh.
Round 3 tee times - Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche - Friday 2 September AEST
4pm Hayden Hopewell, Laurenz Schiergen (Germany), James Ashfield (Wales)
4.11pm Harrison Crowe, Anton Albers (Germany), Luke Harries (Wales)
4.22pm Connor McKinney, Jonas Baumgartner (Germany), Archie Davies (Wales)
Follow the World Amateur Team Championships men's team scores here and the individual scores here.
Hear from Connor below.
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