2022 PacWest Championship (Second Round)
LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. – The completion of round two at the Pacific West Conference Championship sees Academy of Art men's golf junior
Matthew Watkins remaining in the top 10, dropping back two spots into a tie for sixth place at 4-over-par 148. As a squad ART U also dropped back a spot into fifth place with a combined score of 33-over-par 609.
Though he moved back slightly on the leaderboard after a 5-over-par 77 in the second round, Watkins remains in the hunt for a a top-5 finish. Through 36 holes, only the tournament's leader Keita Okada of Hawaii Pacific has finished in the red at 4-under-par 140, with the trailing nine golfers all separated by four strokes or less including Watkins. A pair of birdies would help Watkins make the turn at even-par, but despite his third birdie of the day on Hole 11, Watkins would finish the back nine and his round at 5-over.
Just outside the top 10 in a tie for 11th place at 6-over-par 150 is freshman
Jack DeBenedetti, who has carded identical rounds of 3-over-par 75, dropping only one birdie with 13 par saves in the best round by an Urban Knight on the day. One stroke behind him in round two was freshman
Anson Pan with a 4-over-par 76, which has helped push him into the top 20 in a share of 18th place at 11-over-par 155. Pan totaled five birdies on the day, three of which came on the front nine to make the turn at 3-under, but would also run into a bit of trouble on the back nine. Currently in a tie for 24th place is the freshman duo of
Giulio Zanichelli and
Ralph Kho, as both have combined scores of 15-over-par 159.
Jumping into the lead in the team portion of the tournament was Hawaii Pacific, leapfrogging UH Hilo and three other teams with a combined score of 18-over-par 594. The Sharks own a 15-shot lead over ART U, but have a closer race to clinch the team title as they lead second place Dominican by just four strokes (22-over-par 598).
Tomorrow will see the conclusion of the PacWest Championship, with the final round beginning to tee off at 9 a.m.
