20 Oct 2023 | Amateur golf |
Guan, Vilips lead the way for Australians at Eisenhower
by Golf Australia
Australia has two players inside the top 10 and is just two shots off the lead in the teams competition after day two of the World Amateur Team Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
On the strength of another outstanding day from two-time Australian Junior Amateur champion Jeffrey Guan and Stanford University senior Karl Vilips, the Australians are in a tie for fourth place with Czechia in the teams event as they try to win the country’s first Eisenhower Trophy since 2016.
Guan and Vilips, who qualified for the 2023 U.S. Open, traded a pair of 67s and 68s during the first two rounds to be in a share of sixth place in the individual event and lead the Aussies to a 14-under total of 270.
The third Australian team member, Jack Buchanan (76-72), is in equal 80th place.
The United States of America’s Nick Dunlap, who is No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, tallied seven birdies en route to a 5-under 67 to position the Americans one stroke clear of France and the People’s Republic of China.
France’s Hugo Le Goff (9-under 135) leads the individual leaderboard by one stroke over Czechia’s Filip Jakubcik, Italy’s Pietro Bovari, the People’s Republic of China’s Zihang Qiu and the USA’s Nick Dunlap.
Mexico and Norway made the largest moves of day two, both climbing 13 places. Mexico jumped into a tie for eighth, while Norway moved into a tie for 11th thanks to an 8-under 64 from Herman Sekne that included nine birdies. Sekne’s 64 is the lowest round of the championship thus far.
Australia, the People’s Republic of China and the USA are the only countries with two players in the top 10 of the individual leaderboard.
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