SCORING | FINAL ROUND STARTING TIMES
APOLLO — Colton Lusk is trending in the right direction at an important time.
Lusk, a rising sophomore at Penn State and Peters Township graduate, fired a 6-under score of 66 Tuesday, sliding into the lead at 9-under overall at the 123rd WPGA Open Championship at Willowbrook Country Club in Apollo.
“Short game,” said Lusk. “I wedged it close and I putted extremely well. I made a lot of putts.”
A strong short game has been a key trait for those having success at Willowbrook over the first two days of the three-round championship.
“It’s probably the main part,” added Lusk. “You don’t have to hit it super far here. But you do have to miss on the right side and can’t leave yourself in the wrong spot.”
Lusk got off to a strong start after opening his round on the back nine. He birdied the tenth hole, as well as four of the last five to make the turn at 4-under.
“On 16, I put it to about a foot,” he said. “On 18, I actually missed it way left. But I made a 15-footer. So, yeah, it was definitely my putting today. Putting and wedges.”
Wade Boyle, a member of the John Carroll golf team, followed college teammate Daniel Donahue’s strong play Monday with a 5-under score of 67 Tuesday and currently sits in second.
Scott Jordan’s consecutive scores of 69 have him at 6-under, as those three will play in Wednesday’s final group, set to tee off at 10 a.m.
“I’ve got some good momentum going,” said Jordan, a Longwood University graduate. “I’m going to keep it going for tomorrow hopefully. I definitely need to get some big rest tonight.”
William Hilton and Amani D’Ambrosio are both 5-under and tied for fourth, as is the championship’s top performing professional through two days, Mike VanSickle.
But all will be chasing Lusk who, readily admits, is in the midst of an important summer on the course.
After initially enrolling at Siena, Lusk transferred to Penn State for the his second semester this past year, but is not playing golf there. At least not yet.
“I’m trying to play for them this fall,” he said. “All of my tournaments this summer have been critical, trying to prove that I can play for them. But, as of now, we’re still in talks. So, we’ll see. I should know soon, hopefully.”
Play will begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Lusk hopes to have what could be a stressful night be a subdued one, as he aims to win his first WPGA major championship.
“I’m going to go home and forget about it,” said Lusk, who after playing with strong partners in Bailey Donahue and Rob McClellan will be with top competitors again Wednesday.
“Playing with good players pushes you to play better when you see them make a birdie. You know you have to do that as well if you want to have a shot.”
For any media inquiries, please contact WPGA Director of Communications Josh Rowntree.
