Reagan Zibilski (Springfield, Mo.) of the University of Arkansas and Luke Haskew (Baton Rouge, La.) of LSU maintained their leads at the halfway point of the 108th Southwestern Men’s and Women’s Amateur championships, played on the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Zibilski, who opened with an 8-under 64 on Wednesday, shot a 4-under 68 in round two to reach 12 under par, four shots ahead of Bentley Cotton (Austin, Texas) of the University of Texas, who followed her 67 with a 69. Zibilski, who said after her first round that her game was trending coming in, has 15 birdies through two rounds.
Grace Lee (Bellevue, Wash.) of Gonzaga University and Ryan Flynn (Truckee, Calif.) of Grand Canyon University share third spot at 7 under par.
The defending champion Camille Boyd (Yorba Linda, Calif. / University of Washington) was closer to the cut line than the lead after an opening 73, but shot up the leaderboard with a second-round 66 to get to 5 under par and only three shots out of second place.
The cut fell at 6 over par, with 39 players advancing to the final two rounds. 16 players are in red figures with two rounds to go.
In the Men’s championship, the challenge for LSU rising sophomore Luke Haskew (Baton Rouge, La.) was to follow up his course-record-tying 62 with another good round.
Amid low scoring for the second straight day, Haskew did just that, firing a 4-under 68 that put him at 14 under par and kept him in the lead by two shots. After an early bogey, Haskew tallied five birdies the rest of the way.
As in the Women’s championship, the defending champion moved closer to contending for a repeat. Davis Bryant (Aurora, Colo. / Colorado State) started the day three shots back, but shot 67 to pull into solo second at 12 under.
Joseph Lloyd (Scottsdale, Ariz.) of Fresno State shot the round of the day, a 7-under 65, to get to 11 under and in third place alone. He will play with Haskew and Bryant in the final group on Friday.
The cut fell at 1 over, with 46 players advancing to the final two rounds.
The men and women will both tee off Friday morning for round three, with the final round on Saturday.