Australia’s Brady Watt holds a 2-stroke lead after 36-holes at the 2013 Australian Master of the Amateurs Championship
MELBOURNE, Aus – Australia’s top-ranked amateur Brady Watt holds a two-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the 2013 Australian Master of the Amateurs Championship. Watt fired a second-round 68(-4) to put him atop the leaderboard at 135(-9). The 22-year-old Watt is the 16th ranked amateur in the official WAGR. Watt won three times in his 2012 season. Watt was victorious at the City of Perth Championship, Dunes Medal, and the Keperra Bowl. In second-place at 137(-7) is 21-year-old local Melbourne golfer Geoff Drakeford. After holding a tie for the first-round lead at 67(-5), Drakeford shot a second-round 70(-2) to move into solo second-place. Canadian Garrett Rank is in third-place at 138(-6). Rank made it to the finals of the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and is currently ranked 209 in the official WAGR. One of the most intriguing players is the field this week is China’s Guan Tianlang. The 14-year-old Tianlang earned an invitation to the 2013 Masters by way of his victory at the Asia-Pacific Amateur. He will become the youngest player to ever compete in the Masters when he tees it up at Augusta National Golf Club in April. Tianlang was in a tie for second-place after his first-round 68(-4), but dropped to 18th place after a second round 76(+4). Peter Williamson, the highest ranked player in the field is in 29th place after opening with rounds of 76(+4) and 73(+1). Williamson of the United States is ranked fourth in the official WAGR. Defending champion Nathan Holman dropped to tie for 11th place after a second-round 75(+3). The 21 year-old Holman held a share for the first-round lead after he opened with a 67(-5). Jordan Zunic was also tied for the first-round lead, but like Holman, Zunic struggled in the second-round, shooting a 75(+3). Seventeen-year-old Viraat Badwhar was the other first-round leader. The incoming Stanford freshman shot a second-round 74(+2) and sits in a tie for 7th place. Badhwar is ranked 97 in the official WAGR and won the 2012 Toyota Junior World Cup. Teremoana Beaucousin of France sits in fourth-place after shooting rounds of 69(-3) and 70(-2). Richard Lamb is leading the American players in the field in sixth place at 140(-4).
