Queenslander Zachary Maxwell is the halfway leader of the Bowra & O’Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open, but it was a frustrating day for Mandurah local Jason Scrivener.
Maxwell (above left) had matched Scrivener’s opening 63 on Thursday to establish himself amongst the leaders and he kept his foot on the gas on day two, adding a five-under-par 66 to take the solo lead at 13 under.
This leaves him a shot clear of first-round leader Jak Carter, who produced a solid 68 today, while Elvis Smylie scorched round in 64 to lie in outright third at -11.
Starting on 10, Maxwell was level-par through his front nine but moved up a gear around the turn with birdies at the 1st, 2nd and 4th sandwiched around an eagle at the 3rd.
“It was unreal,” Maxwell said at the conclusion of his round. “I was beyond patient out there, did nothing on the front nine but thankfully swapped it around and went nuts on the other nine!”
Maxwell will play in the last group off the 1st tee at 11.21am on Saturday alongside Carter and Smylie. View the third-round draw here.
Luck shines on tough day for Scriv
After delighting the galleries yesterday with a swashbuckling 63, home-club favourite Scrivener (above right) endured a forgettable day as he struggled for consistency off the tee and on the greens.
A hole-out eagle on the par-four 7th notwithstanding, Scrivener was some way short of his brilliant best as he carded five bogeys in his first 11 holes to drop to +2 for the day.
He steadied the ship on the closing stretch, though, with birdies on 13 and 18 securing a level-par 71 to leave him on eight-under for the championship in a tie for ninth, alongside Brady Watt (67) and Michael Sim (66).
Curtis Luck now leads the WA challenge after a scintillating 64 moved him up into T4th at 10 under par. Luck came home in just 29 strokes, which included a stretch of four birdies and an eagle between holes 13-17.
Curtis Luck rocketed into contention after a second-round 64
He shares fourth with Josh Armstrong (NSW), Connor McDade (VIC) and Matias Sanchez (VIC), a shot ahead of WA’s Daniel Fox – the 2015 WA Open champion – who rolled back the years with a joint-best-of-the-day 63 to move to -9.
Brett Rumford (-6), Braden Becker (-6), Adam Brady (-5), Ryan Peake (-4), Josh Greer (-4) and amateurs Zach Capelli and Ollie Marsh (both -3) also progressed to the weekend.
However, with the cut falling at -3, several fancied challengers failed to make the weekend, including WA PGA Championship runner-up Jordan Doull (-1), former European Tour winner Jarrod Moseley (+1) and DP World Tour member Haydn Barron (+2).
Mandurah local Kathryn Norris also missed out on her bid to become just the second woman to play all four rounds at the WA Open. The WPGA Tour member bogeyed 17 and lipped out a birdie putt at 18 to miss the cut by two strokes.
View the full leaderboard here.
Play on Day 3 commences at 9.42am from both the 1st and 10th tees. You can view the third-round draw here. Saturday also marks the start of the 36-hole All Abilities Championship for golfers with physical, mental or sensory impairments.
The Bowra & O’Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open will take place at Mandurah Country Club from October 17-20 and is FREE for spectators to attend. Find full details about the event here.
Not able to get to Mandurah to attend the event in person? No problem. You can tune in to live coverage of the championship on Foxtel and Kayo over the closing two rounds.
- Saturday, October 19: 1pm – 4pm (AWST)
- Sunday, October 20: 11am – 4pm (AWST)
