LEWISTON — Amelie Phung attempted a greedy putt and it was costly, but that’s not going to stop her from being aggressive.
The 16-year-old from Queens held a seven-shot lead at one point during the second round of the 65th Porter Cup Thursday at Niagara Falls Country Club, but a pair of bogeys and a hot round from Arkansas standout Kendall Todd cut Phung’s lead to three strokes. Still, Phung hasn’t lost any ground after leading the field entering the day, as she sits with a 4-under-par 136 through 36 holes.
After shooting 5 under in the opening round, Phung is now 14 strokes ahead of her pace from last year, which earned her a runner-up finish. Phung didn’t feel she hit the ball spectacularly in the first round, it was more about her putting, which she attributes to having a better understanding of the course.
“I’ve just been able to focus more on course management,” Phung said. “I think that’s the big thing this year. I know the course better, I played it last year so I’ve experienced. I focus on hitting the middle of the green and I just hit darts at the greens that I wedge in. And it makes a difference because saving those birdies for the really tough holes is what’s important on this course for me.”
Phung’s seven birdies in the first round matched her total from all of last year, but she had more bogeys (four) than birdies (three) Thursday, including three on the back nine. One of those came on the seventh hole, one that she birdied in the first round.
Through two rounds, Phung isn’t satisfied with her play, but isn’t frustrated either. She gained some confidence in the first round and now she wants to focus on her game instead of watching the leaderboard.
“It gave me a lot of confidence putting-wise and let me think I should go for the 20-footer,” Phung said. “I have a chance. There’s no reason to play passive, leave it short or just play ball speed.”
Todd is just as determined, unhappy with shooting 1 over in the first round, she birdied her first hole of the day and set the tone for the remainder of the round. Todd bogeyed the first hole on the back nine and then went on a hot streak.
The Arizona native who finished in the top-20 at the NCAA tournament this year, recorded birdies on four of her last nine holes to finish the day 2 under, one of two players to shoot under par for the day. She’s now 1 under for the tournament, two shots ahead of third-place Nicole Gal.
“I was just so determined to get back under par that I just told my caddy that I was going to start making putts,” Todd said. “And it happened.”
Clarence’s Victoria Leach had the best round of the day in the women’s division, shooting 3 under to climb into fourth place at 2 over par for the tournament, one up on fifth-place Madelin Boyd. Leach, who plays for Stetson collegiately, posted five birdies a day after hitting six bogeys.
Phung’s younger sister, Alexandra, entered in third place at 1 under, but shot 6 over in the second round to fall into a three-way tie for sixth with Canada’s Payton Lovisa and Ashley Chow. Ella Weber came into the second round in second place, but shot 11 over to drop to 13th at 9 over, while last year’s champion, Sarah Gallagher, rebounded from a 7 over first round to shoot 2 over and jump into 13th place.
Crowded leaderboard on the men’s side
After shooting a sizzling 8 under in the first round Vanderbilt’s Chase Nevins shot par, but is still tied for first place with William & Mary’s Charlie Bundy.
Nevins had a double-bogey on the first hole and four overall, but still had five birdies. Bundy, who was previously two strokes back, shot 2 under to hop into the lead at 8 under 132 for the tournament.
Their lead isn’t safe, though, as Shubham Jaglan shot the best round of the day at 5 under to leap into third place. Jaglan is now one shot off the lead after knocking in birdies on three of the first four holes.
Louisville’s Cooper Claycomb was briefly tied for the lead, but bogeyed two of his last four holes after birdies on three of the first four on the back nine. He’s two strokes back, tied with Tonawanda’s Ryan Edholm, 2022 runner-up Garrett Engle, Carter Loflin, Noah Kent and Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa.
The third round of the Porter Cup tees off at 8 a.m. Friday.