With a 4-under 68, Camden Braidech of the University of Tennessee Chattanooga moved to 9 under and into the solo lead at the halfway point of 110th Southwestern Amateur Championship. In the women’s division, Maria Eidhagen Harrouch of the University of Georgia extended her lead to five shots, gutting out a 2-under 70 in a breezy second round on Desert Mountain Club’s Outlaw Course.
With the windy conditions impacting play, Braidech admitted that Thursday’s round was more of a grind than the day before. After starting strong with two early birdies, he gave back strokes with a pair of bogeys to close the front nine and turned at even par. But he bounced back on the inward nine, carding five birdies, including a 25-foot putt to close out the round. For Braidech, it was about knowing that putts would begin to fall if he trusted in his game.
“Knowing that as the day goes on, stuff will start dropping. Just stay in it, keep an even head and see what happens at the end,” Braidech said. “I wouldn’t say there was a huge momentum shift. It felt like, for the most part, I was playing similarly (to yesterday), but some putts started to drop and I went from even to four under.”
Despite two impressive rounds from the Scottsdale, Ariz. native, his lead remains slim going into moving day – just one stroke ahead of Kentaro Nanayama of Purdue University and two clear of Luke Cushman (Boise State) and Johnnie Clark (Oklahoma State), a fellow Arizona product from Mesa.
Several players in the men’s field made a run at the tournament’s low round, but it was Tyler Spielman ( Auburn University) who claimed the honor with a scorching 8-under 64. Close behind were the Hunter Swanson (University of Colorado) and the Andrew Ramos (University of Oklahoma), who each carded impressive 7-under 65s.
Despite the tougher conditions, Eidhagen Harrouch posted another stellar round, a 2-under 70, to widen the gap to five strokes over Natalie Yen, the reigning U.S. Amateur Women’s Four-Ball champion and a Texas A&M commit. Makayla Tyrrell (University of Oklahoma) and Yu Chu Chen, an Oklahoma State commit who finished runner-up here a year ago, share the third spot at 4 under.
For the tournament leader, patience has paid off.
“I think with this course you have to be a little patient because there will be opportunities,” Harrouch said of the Outlaw Course. “Some par-5s are gettable. There’s that drivable par-4 (No. 14). So, I think looking forward to those holes helps you through the round.”
The low round of the afternoon was a 4-under 68 by Pimchompoo “Pinky” Chaisilprungruang of the University of North Carolina Charlotte, who moved into a tie for 5th at 3 under par.
After today’s round, both fields were narrowed to the low 36 scorers and ties. On the men’s side, 40 players advanced with the cut falling at even par (144). The women’s cut fell at +4 (148), with 38 players advancing to the final two rounds of the championship.
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The third round starts at 7:30 a.m. with the women’s field teeing off first, followed by the men. The order will then be reversed for the final round on Saturday.