Grace Kim, Harrison Crowe and Josh Armstrong have taken advantage of moving day at the 2020 Australian Master of the Amateurs.
With the afternoon conditions at Victoria Golf Club proving tough for many of the competitors, Kim made her move in the women’s’ division, carding the equal low round for the day, a sizzling five-under 67 to jump places and into a tie for fourth place.
After a disappointing second round, the bubbly Kim was thrilled with her bounceback.
“Back in the tournament,” she beamed. “I’ve struggled with my long putts and I still left a lot out there.”
“I’m pretty happy I’m back in the top 10, and looking forward to tomorrow.
Kelsey Bennett is also in the mix after adding a two-under-par 70 to her second round 67 to sit at even par for the tournament.
Sadly, overnight leader Steph Kyriacou had to endure a forgettable afternoon, dropping five shots to fall back into a tie for 4th place alongside Kim, her state teammate.
Queensland’s Cassie Porter leads the women’s division by two at five-under-par after matching Kim’s 67.
The cut in the women’s division fell at nine over which meant a reprieve for June Song (in 21st) and Doey Choi who finished in a tie for 25th place.
LEADERBOARD
211: Cassie Porter
213: Alyaa Abdulghany
214: Min A Yoon
215: Grace Kim, Stephanie Kyriacou
216: Kelsey Bennett, An Ho Yu, Carmen Lim.
A solid three under 69 from Harrison Crowe and sensational five under 67 from Canberra’s Josh Armstrong has seen the pair vault into the top five of the men’s division with just one round remaining.
The pair are in a tie for fourth place, albeit some eight shots behind the leader, American Sahith Theegala, who has a comfortable five-shot lead.
Crowe, who is making his first appearance in the AMOTA, was extremely pleased with his effort, despite a mid-round snafu.
“It was good, very solid. I made that one mistake on twelve.
“I birdied all the easy holes today.”
Crowe said the week had been quite a learning curve and one which he had gained plenty of experience from.
“It’s an excellent field, but I’ve realised my game is good enough to compete against this calibre of golfer.
“As for a result, I’m not expecting anything, just sticking to my game plan and having a bit more fun rather than being serious.
“This has been a big learning experience,” he added.
Josh Armstrong made one of the moves of the day, jumping an impressive 21 places to sit beside Crowe at five under.
The more experienced competitor was getting too ahead of himself, however, downplaying the impressive result.
“I didn’t play too badly,” he said. “I didn’t do anything that special, just took advantage of the scoring holes and made a couple of decent putts, that’s about it.”
When pressed about what he would take in tomorrow’s final round, Armstrong grinned.
“More of the same thing, that will do me.”
Two other New South Wales & ACT golfers made the third round cut which fell at six over. Nathan Barbieri is in a tie for 11th after carding an even-par 72, while Canberra’s Harry Bolton eagled his final hole of the day to jump into red figures at one-under for the tournament.
LEADERBOARD
203: Sahith Theegala
208: Jack Thompson, Jack Buchanan
211: Josh Armstrong, Connor McKinney, Harrison Crowe, Jang Hyun Lee.
212: Henry Shimp, Quade Cummins, Benjamin Jones.
