Bouniol leads Texas State Open after 2 rounds
Jul. 26—TYLER, Tx. — Cyril Bouniol maintains the lead at the 53rd M&P Group Texas State Open. Bouniol followed up a first round 64 with a 65 in the second round to sit at 11-under-par after 36 holes of competition at the Cascades Country Club.
Originally from Pau, France, Bouniol now resides outside of Fort Worth in Willow Park, TX. This is his second straight year to play in the Texas State Open and his third overall. After playing collegiately at Abilene Christian University, and graduating in 2011, Bouniol began working his way up the ranks of the professional golf world. He has made over 40 career starts across the PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR China. He currently has conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour.
"Everything was good just like yesterday. I feel like this is a golf course where you've got six to eight shots where you've got to step up and hit them. There are no bailouts, especially on the par threes," said Bouniol after his round. "Tomorrow, [I will] just go out there and try to execute every shot the best I can. I know that when I do that I definitely have the game to go low and then win golf tournaments."
David Meyers, who trails the leader by two strokes, carded an impressive 8 birdies today. Meyers is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa but resides in Bee Cave, TX. After attending Dainfern College in Johannesburg, South Africa, Meyers attended Oklahoma City University where he played collegiate golf. Meyers was a three-time GCAA All-American and a two-time NAIA All-American.
Matthew Watkins (a) from Heath, TX and Shawn Lu from Dallas, TX made notable movements up the leaderboard today. Watkins (a), the 2021 Low-Amateur, moved 20 spots up the leaderboard, while second year professional Lu sprung 50 spots. Lu fired the lowest round of the championship today, 31-31 — 62. Watkins and Lu are currently tied for third at 8-under-par.
Bullard's Blake Elliott is tied for 18th place heading into the final round after firing rounds of 68 and 69.
Former Dallas Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo (74-72 — 146) missed the cut.
The championship also features a Low PGA Professional Division. Mike Gooden, PGA head professional at Dallas National Golf Club leads this Division at 2-under-par.
The 53rd M&P Group Texas State Open is a 72-hole stroke play event and consists of 156 professionals and amateurs. 56 players survived the 36-hole cut at even-par and will play the final two rounds while competing for a purse of $200,00. The champion will receive $40,000. Four amateurs and two PGA Professionals made the cut. The third round will begin at 8:00 a.m. on the 1st and 10th holes.
This is M&P Group's first year as the title sponsor after signing a multi-year agreement with the Northern Texas PGA. The Championship is presented by Joyce Crane and supported by Austin Bank, Christus Trinity Mother Frances, Energy Weldfab, Jucys Hamburgers and Patterson Tyler.
