Brown's late eagle gives him a one-shot lead after two rounds of Pennsylvania Amateur at Lookaway

   The amateur career of LuLu Country Club’s Michael Brown Jr. seemed to get a second wind when he won the Patterson Cup, a Golf Association of Philadelphia major championship, at Gulph Mills Golf Club two summers ago.

   Brown had a couple of GAP majors on his resume, but he had become a perennial contender who couldn’t find the winner’s circle. The Patterson Cup win, though, was his third GAP major victory and he’s been in the thick of things ever since. Confidence is a funny thing, but Brown seems to have it right now.

   Brown made an eagle on the par-5 17^th hole at Lookaway Golf Club Tuesday on his way to a 3-under-par 69 that gave him a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 107^th Amateur Championship, presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods.

   Brown had opened with a 4-under 68 Monday that left him a shot behind first-round leader Brett Young of Nemacolin Country Club. Brown’s 69 Tuesday left him with a 36-hole total of 7-under 137 going into Wednesday’s final round.

   Brown wouldn’t give back a single one of his three GAP majors, but a Pennsylvania Amateur title would be a nice addition to the talented mid-amateur’s resume.

   Brown, playing early in the day Tuesday, got it to 7-under with birdies at the second, third and ninth holes. His round stalled a little when he made bogeys at the 11^th and 15^th holes to fall back to 5-under before the eagle at the 17^th hole vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard.

   Several players took a run at Brown’s 36-hole lead, but no one was able to catch him.

   Brown’s closest pursuer, Oakmont Country Club’s Jimmy Meyers, had the best round of the afternoon, a sparkling 6-under 66 that left the Penn State sophomore a shot behind Brown at 6-under 138.

   Meyers, the 2018 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at Pittsburgh Central Catholic, had opened with an even-par 72.

   Meyers stumbled out of the gate with a bogey at the first hole, but it was all good after that. He made birdies at the third, seventh, eighth, 14^th and 16^th holes before matching Brown’s eagle at the par-5 17^th hole to get it to 6-under.

   The quintet tied for third place at 5-under 139, just two shots behind Brown, is a fascinating group of current college standouts, a couple of the Philadelphia area’s top mid-amateurs and, just for good measure, a junior player with a ton of talent.

   This time last year Austin Barbin was the hottest junior player in the Philadelphia area, winning a pair of GAP junior major championships, the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship and the Christman Cup on his way to GAP Junior Player of the Year honors. Playing out of Loch Nairn Golf Club, Barbin got it going early in his round Tuesday, going 5-under on Lookaway’s front nine to get it to 6-under for the championship.

   Barbin, who worked his way into the starting lineup at Maryland during a freshman season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, cooled off on the back nine, but his 4-under 68, combined with an opening-round 71, left him in the group tied for third place.

   Michael O’Brien of Makefield Highlands Golf Club was the best player on the Saint Joseph’s golf team during a senior season that also came to a premature end due to the pandemic. O’Brien, who will play a fifth year of college golf at Florida Gulf Coast, was the runnerup to Austin Barbin’s big brother, Zach Barbin, in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur last month at Lancaster Country Club and has it going again at Lookaway.

   O’Brien added a 3-under 69 to his opening-round 70 to join the group at 5-under 139.

   Holy Ghost Prep junior Calen Sanderson, playing out of Jericho National Golf Club, also added a 3-under 69 to an opening-round 70 to land on 5-under. Sanderson finished in a tie for second place in last fall’s District One Class AAA Championship.

   Then there are the two mid-ams at 139, Pine Valley Golf Club’s Jeff Osberg, playing at Lookaway under the PAGA individual member banner, and Whitemarsh Valley Country Club’s Will Davenport.

   Osberg, GAP’s reigning William Hyndman III Player of the Year and owner of six GAP major crowns, added a 2-under 70 to his opening-round 69. Nobody knows better than Brown that Osberg is quite capable of making up a two-shot deficit in a hurry.

   Davenport, the 2019 GAP Middle-Amateur Championship winner who earned a spot in the match-play bracket in last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at the Colorado Golf Club, added a 3-under 69 to an opening-round 70.

   Nemacolin’s Young fell back after his opening-round 67 with a 1-over 73, but remains very much in the hunt at 4-under 140. That left him in a tie for eighth place with Diamond Run Golf Club’s Rick Stimmel, coming off a spectacular run in PAGA’s Jay Sigel Match Play Championship earlier this month at the Country Club of York.

   Stimmel shaved four shots off his opening-round 72 with a 4-under 68 as he maintained his momentum from the spirited run in the Sigel Match Play.

   Nobody at Lookaway was hotter Tuesday than Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Conor McGrath, a junior on Brian Quinn’s Temple golf team. McGrath, who had opened with a 77 Monday, had seven birdies and an eagle in a scintillating 8-under 64 that was a course record from the black tees at Lookaway.

   McGrath’s 3-under 141 total left him in a tie for 10^th place with Huntingdon Valley clubmate Ben Cooley, who added a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 73, and Northampton Country Club’s Zach Juhasz, who shared second place with Brown following an opening-round 68, but cooled off Tuesday with a 1-over 73.

   Another member of Penn State golf coach Greg Nye’s talented sophomore class, Talamore Country Club’s Patrick Sheehan, headed a group of five players tied for 13^th place at 2-under 142 after adding an even-par 72 to his opening-round 70.

   Sheehan was the District One Class AAA champion as a senior at Central Bucks East and finished just behind his future teammate Meyers in a tie for third place in the 2018 PIAA Class AAA Championship.

   Merion Golf Club’s Tug Maude, having a career resurgence in his 30s, carded his second straight 1-under 71 to join the group at 2-under. Maude had a second straight strong showing in the Sigel Match Play, reaching the quarterfinals.

   Another quarterfinalist in the Sigel Match Play, Hartefeld National Golf Club’s Brandon Raihl, who starred scholastically at Conrad Weiser, matched Maude’s pair of 71s to join the group at 142.

   Rounding out the quintet at 2-under were Makefield Highlands’ Jack Irons and Meadia Heights Golf Club’s Shaun Fedor, a former scholastic standout at Manheim Township who is coming off a strong freshman season at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

   Irons also carded a second straight 1-under 71 while Fedor added an even-par 72 to his opening-round 70.

   Sewickley Heights Golf Club’s Chris Tanabe, so impressive in capturing the Pennsylvania Amateur crown a year ago at Aronimink Golf Club, bounced back from an opening-round 74 with a 3-under 69 to join a group of five players tied for 18^th place at 1-under 143. Tanabe is a senior at Bucknell.

   The cut fell at 3-over 147 and left 40 players with starting times for Wednesday’s final round.