Ohio Open golf: Jake McBride three shots back on crowded leaderboard as final round looms
WESTFIELD CENTER — First-round co-leader and defending champion Jake McBride shot even-par 70 during Tuesday’s second round of the 101st Pyramid Ohio Open at Westfield Country Club.
The Lake High School and North Carolina State graduate is tied for 10th, three shots back of the top on a crowded leaderboard.
From Monday: Defending champion Jake McBride tied for lead after first round of 101st Ohio Open
Under ideal playing conditions on both courses Tuesday at Westfield, par took a beating as 62 players made the cut and will return on Wednesday at 7:40 a.m. for the final 18 holes.
Amateurs made their presence felt as 24 made it to the final round. That included Kent State sophomore Jordan Gilkison, who stunned the field with a 7-under 63 that left him one stroke out of the lead at 5-under 135.
His round of 32-31 on the South Course was the third-lowest round ever shot at Westfield during the Open, joining the numbers posted by former champion TT Crouch, Ben Smith and Westfield’s own Parker Hewit.
It was another Gilkison, Jordan’s older brother, Josh, who is one of four players tied for the lead. Josh, a Kent State graduate, added a 5-under 65 to an opening 69 for a 6-under 134.
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First-year pro Mason Lenhart of Cincinnati and Mikkel Mathieson (a native of Denmark and a junior at Wright State, also came in at 134. Lenhart, a University of Cincinnati graduate, posted his second straight 67 and Mathieson added a 65 to an opening 69.
Three-time champion Bob Sowards of Dublin interrupted the march of the young when he added a 4-under 66 on the South Course to go with an opening 68 for his share of the lead.
Crouch, the 2016 Open champion, is one of four golfers tied at 5-under 135. That also includes former University of Akron golfer Blake Sattler of New Philadelphia (70-65), former Ohio State and Korn Ferry Tour member Will Grimmer (69-66) and Jordan Gilkison.
Sowards, 54, has the opportunity to make history on two fronts with a victory. The winner in 2002, 2004 and 2010 can join golf hall-of-famers Denny Shute and Billy Burke as the only four-time winners of the Open. He also can become the only player to win both the Ohio Open and the Ohio Senior Open in the same year. He won the Senior Open for the fourth time earlier this summer.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Kent State's Gilkison brothers among those at top of Ohio Open
