Grace Anderson (Burlington, Ont. Canada) shot a two-under 70 to take a one-shot lead after the second round of the Southwestern Amateur at Desert Mountain’s Outlaw Course in Scottsdale, Ariz. The rising Pepperdine University junior began the day tied for the lead at five under, only to fall back with back-to-back bogeys on her opening nine. She was able to rebound with four birdies, including on the final two holes, to grab the halfway lead over Mia Clausen (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Elise Lee (Irvine, Calif.) with a 7-under 137 total.
It looked like Clausen might have the lead to herself after a 70 put her at six under par. The typical afternoon winds were kicking up, and birdies were harder to come by than they were in round one.
“It was tougher today because the pin locations were tougher and it was windier today too,” said Clausen, a member of the U.S. National Junior Team and one of the youngest players in the field just one month shy of her 16th birthday. “But I think playing this course last year [she finished T12 in the 2025 tournament] really helped because this course is pretty tricky if you miss it in the wrong spots, and I learned a lot from last year.”
Lee climbed the leaderboard with her second consecutive round of 3-under 69 and is the lone player in the field to break 70 in both rounds on the Outlaw Course. The rising junior at USC, who was a member of Northwestern’s national championship team in 2025 before transferring, helped lead the Trojans to the final match this year before falling to Stanford in what would have a repeat championship for Lee. She has continued her good form and closed fast on Thursday, with three birdies on her final four holes to join Clausen one shot behind the lead.
Mary Miller (Savannah, Ga.) also closed fast, with two late birdies to finish alone in fourth with a 69 and a 5-under total. The Ole Miss rising junior was the early leader on day one before a final-hole double bogey, but she regained momentum with an eagle on the par-5 second hole in round two and put herself in contention heading into the final 36 holes.
The round of the day belonged to Samantha Olson (Phoenix, Ariz.), who went bogey-free despite the challenging conditions and posted a 5-under 67 to get into a tie for fifth at four under. Olson, who just finished her sophomore year at the University of Tulsa, played holes four, five and six in seven shots and then added birdies on 11 and 13. Isabella Wu (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), a Northwestern University commit, is tied with Olson after a 71.
First round co-leaders Agustina Gómez (living in Argentina but representing Chile) and Alexis Vakasiuola (San Tan Valley, Ariz.) each had three late bogeys to shoot 74s and fall back to a ties for seventh with Eleonore Aernouts of France at three under par.
The cut fell at five over par, with 39 women advancing to the final two rounds.
In the men’s division, overnight leader RJ Arone (Las Vegas, Nev.) shot an even-par round of 72 to stay atop the standings, but he was joined there by Jared Abercrombie of Simi Valley, Calif., who fired the day’s low round, a bogey-free seven-under 65. The pair will tee off in the final group tomorrow, tied at nine-under 135.
Abercrombie, who recently transferred to Santa Clara University, is five-under on the eight par fives he has played this week, and has birdied the difficult 18th hole in both rounds.
San Diego State University commit Brayden Forte (Denver, Colo.) shot his second-straight sub-70 round to get to eight under par and sit alone in third place. Forte is joined inside the top-five with his fellow Aztec commit and four-ball partner Miles Kuhl (Boulder, Colo.), with whom he teamed up last month to win the Colorado Four-Ball with a mind-boggling 31-under-par total score. Another San Diego State Aztec, recent graduate Tyler Kowack (san Diego, Calif.) sits between Forte and Kuhl, alone in fourth at six under.
Aside from Abercrombie, the round of the morning wave, and maybe the most interesting two-day journey of anyone in the field, belonged to Alex Huang of Plano, Tex. and the University of North Texas. Huang was thrown off shortly before his first round began on Wednesday because he was unaware of Desert Mountain’s spikeless shoe policy. So he headed to the tee without his metal-spiked shoes before a replacement pair could arrive. He was able to birdie his first hole but a poor finish gave him a 78.
He was able to rally today, hitting it close throughout the round and posting a 6-under 66 despite three straight three-putts starting at the eighth hole. “Yesterday was so weird,” said Huang after the round. “My mom had to rush to the hotel to get my other pair of golf shoes, but we made it work. We made the cut.”
Last year’s champion Hartej Grewal (Pleasanton, Calif.) sits in a tie for sixth at four under after a second-round 71.
The cut fell at two over par, with 38 golfers making it to the final two rounds.
The third round will tee off on Friday morning, with the women going off both sides starting at 7:30am, followed by the men at 8:40.