Former UCF golfer Blayne Barber could end up sharing medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur. (Copyright USGA/Chris Keane)
Though he’ll have to wait out the finish of Tuesday’s storm-delayed second round, former UCF golfer Blayne Barber has a chance to share medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur.
Barber, who now represents Auburn, waited out a 3-hour, 40-minute delay before finishing off a 3-under-par 67 at Blue Mound G&CC in Wisconsin. Combined with his opening 68 at main venue Erin Hills, the Lake City golfer completed 36 holes of stroke play at 7-under 135.
“I didn’t want to get complacent and start playing defensively,” Barber told a USGA liaison. “At least if I was pushing for [medalist], match play was going to happen.”
The top 64 golfers in stroke play advance to match play. With half the field still yet to complete the second round, Barber shared top honors with California high-schooler Beau Hossler and Ben Geyer.
Among those yet to finish was defending champion Peter Uihlein (Lake Nona), who remained 4-under through nine holes of his Tuesday round at Blue Mound. Play was scheduled to resume at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Blake Biddle of St. Charles, Ill., stood 8-under with six holes remaining when play was halted for the night.
Zach Primavera (Lynn Haven) and Nick Brothers (Crystal River) were on the match-play bubble when play was stopped, both tied for 62nd after rounds of 71-71. Among those unable to even start their rounds Tuesday were Hojin Kang (Longwood), T.J. Vogel (Cooper City) and Kyle Cobb (Tallahassee).