Korey Mahoney Takes Early Lead For Medalist Honors At The U.S. Amateur

Ardmore, Pa. – Korey Mahoney, 21, of East Lansing, Mich., made six birdies and shot 3-under-par 67 Tuesday at Philadelphia Country Club for a 36-hole total of 1-under 139 to make the early claim for medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur hosted by Merion Golf Club.

"That would be something special," said Mahoney of maybe being low scorer in the large field of 312 at the end of the day. "I was 3 under in the early going and it kind of crept into my head that I could possibly have medalist honors. I think it might be a couple strokes lower."

So far, with half the field still to finish its second round, Mahoney is stroke in front of Charlie Beljan, 20, of Mesa, Ariz., who was the leader after the first day when he finished with a 6-under 64 at Philadelphia Country Club. He slipped to a 6-over 76 Tuesday at Merion for a total of 140. Jay Choi, 21, of Cerritos, Calif., also finished at 140.

"It was going to be tough to follow my (great) round," said Beljan. "I played cautiously and that came back to bite me. That’s not my style, but I’m in match play and we’ll see what happens."

Keven Fortin-Simard, 19, of Canada; Austin Eaton, 36, of North Sutton, N.H.; and Joseph Syorka, 20, of Daphne, Ala.; were another stroke back at 141.

Fortin-Simard made it look easy with three birdies and an eagle over his first nine holes at Merion, despite not having had a practice round. But he found trouble down the stretch, including a five-putt green.

A sophomore at Memphis, Fortin-Simard was late getting to the gold course because he got stuck in traffic and missed his flight from Montreal to Philadelphia. No problem. He just got in the car and drove.

Eaton, the 2004 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, also stumbled on his way down Merion’s last fairway, taking double bogey to finish his second round at even par.

"I’m disappointed to finish with double bogey, but if someone had said you can have a 70 before I started, I would have taken it," said Eaton. "There are doubles out there everywhere."

The championship continues Wednesday with the first round of match play for the low 64 scorers. The championship final match is scheduled for Sunday.

Story written by Craig Smith, Director of Media Relations for the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at csmith@usga.org.