Cole Keeps the Lead in Round 2 of the Metropolitan Open
St. Albans, MO - It was a wet Round 2 of the 19th Metropolitan Open Championship at the Country Club of St. Albans. When the day started, Ryan Cole was the leader at seven-under (-7) par. The field once again went off of Holes 1 and 10 in a morning and afternoon wave. The first group of the day started at 7:00am and the last started at 2:27pm. The day began with cloudy skies that led to rain throughout the morning and into the afternoon. Late afternoon, the skies began to clear and the sun shone for the final hours of the day. Players were not only trying to get into good position on the leaderboard today, but also to make the cut that would be made to get the field down to the top 40 and ties.
For the morning wave of players, there were moments of heavy rain interfering with their round, but they did not let that deter them from chasing the lead. There were numerous players that carded low scores to climb the leaderboard. Will Grimmer of Cincinnati, OH shot five-under for the day to get to eight-under (-8) par for the tournament. With only one bogey, Grimmer put himself in the leader position at the conclusion of the morning wave. Two players used their rounds to card four-under par and sit in a good position as the afternoon players were just getting started. Zach Burry of Appleton, WI and Dylan Meyer of Evansville, IN were able to get to five-under (-5) par for the championship, which placed them temporarily in a tie for third. Another four-under par round in the morning wave was Anthony MacCaglia of Duluth, GA, who moved up the board to finish the day at three-under (-3) par. Nine players from the morning round finished the day with a total of three-under par or better, which put them in a comfortable place to make the cut depending on the afternoon results. Despite the conditions they faced, the morning wave of players really pushed themselves to make an impact.
The afternoon wave was able to see how the morning group was performing before they began. This gave the second half of the field an idea of what they would need to do to secure their spot in the final round and in a position to win. Matt Echelmeier of Columbia, MO came out firing. Echelmeier began the day with a bogey then turned things around to finish the day at seven-under (-7) par after a first round of even par to sit tied for third. Peter Knade of Jupiter, FL was another first round even par golfer, who made two eagles today to shoot six-under (-6) par and be tied for fifth going into the Final Round. Grant Haefner of Bloomfield Hills, MI and Sam Murphy of Ruston, LA carded a second round of five-under (-5) par to get into the tie for fifth at six-under. Haefner dunked his shot from the fairway on Hole 16 for eagle to get to this mark.
Wesley Hunter of Birmingham, AL was in second after the first round. He was only able to card a one-under par today, but it was enough to keep him towards the top in a tie for third at seven-under (-7) par. Round One Leader, Ryan Cole of Midlothian, VA, knew he needed to back up his first round with another good round to keep people off his heels. Cole hit a stretch of birdies on Holes 12 through 15 and continued that run on the front to finish - despite two bogeys - with a Second Round of six-under (-6) par. This brought Cole’s total to thirteen-under (-13) par and provides him a five shot lead going into the final round.
Across the board in Round 2, there were 15 eagles and 42 rounds under par. The cut was made at one-under (-1) par with 40 players surviving the cut. Three local amateurs made the cut: John Bubba Chapman of St. Louis, Tyler Linenbroker of Chesterfield, and Blake Skornia of St. Louis. Chapman and Linenbroker sit at one-under (-1) par, while Skornia sits at two-under (-2) par. Those three will have the opportunity to fight it out on Friday for low amateur honors. Ryan Cole enters the Final Round in the lead at thirteen-under (-13) par, Will Grimmer is in second at eight-under (-8) par, and Wesley Hunter and Matt Echelmeier are tied for third at seven-under (-7) par.