Paolucci cards a 65, takes one-shot lead into the weekend

MAZATLÁN, MEXICO—Finishing late in the day, right before officials suspended play due to darkness, Anthony Paolucci posted a 7-under 65, recording six birdies on his final nine to grab the outright leading heading into the weekend at the 2022 Estrella del Mar Open. At 12-under through 36 holes, the Dallas, Texas, native holds a one-shot lead over five players, including fellow American Matt Ryan, who followed his opening-round-leading 63 with a 70.

The others at 11-under are Mexico’s Armando Favela and Emilio González, Chile’s Cristóbal Del Solar and American Joseph Winslow. Only two shots off the lead, Americans Mitchell Meissner and Stephen Stallings, Jr. are joined by Guatemala’s José Toledo in a tie for seventh.

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica officials suspended play due to darkness, with players still on the course. Scheduled to resume the second round at 7:15 a.m., Saturday, the 12 players who have yet to finish are not in position to affect the cut line, which is projected at 4-under.

“It was windy today, but I did a good job of keeping the ball in play and I hit a lot of good knock-down shots to keep the ball low in the wind as good I could. I’m very pleased with today,” said Paolucci after matching the low-score-of-the day in tough, windy, afternoon conditions at Estrella del Mar Country Club.

Starting on the back nine at 1:10 p.m., Paolucci birdied 10 and 16 before catching fire on the front. He went birdie-birdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie off No. 1 to move to 12-under and finished bogey-birdie to secure the solo lead.

His birdie on No. 6, a 421-yard par-4 where he made a double bogey Thursday, was especially satisfying. “That’s a challenging hole,” said the 29-year old who has his father caddying for him this week. “I had about 118 (yards) from the fairway. The wind was still blowing pretty good, and I wanted to hit a pitching wedge. My dad talked me into a 9-iron, and I hit it to three feet.”

Aware of the Estrella del Mar Country Club’s track record, Paolucci understands that a one-shot lead at this point doesn’t mean much if he can’t keep going low. “We have a long way to go; it’s only halfway down the event, and there are a lot of low scores, so I have to keep making birdies,” added the player who owns a Tour title, having won the 2016 Abierto del Centro in Cordoba, Argentina.

A late bogey on seven, his 16th hole, prevented Ryan from finishing the day tied for the lead. He had to settle for a 2-under 70 on a day his driving was a bit off. “I definitely need to drive it better,” said the 35-year old from California. “Today was very frustrating off the tee, so I would love to drive it better [Saturday]. I think that’s key because everything else you have a lot of wedges. I’m putting fine, I just need to get some rest.”

Round three tee times will run approximately from 8:30 a.m. to noon. The players who make the cut will be starting in threesomes off No. 1.

Did you know Anthony Paolucci is making his sixth appearance at Estrella del Mar Country Club? His debut came when he tied for 15th at the 2015 Estrella del Mar Open, carding a second-round 65 as he did Friday. His best finish was solo third at the 2020 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Q-School, when he put together four rounds in the 60s.

Key Information

A two-time winner on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Chile’s Cristóbal Del Solar hasn’t recorded a top-10 on Tour since a tie for ninth at the 2020 Estrella del Mar Open, when he shot 21-under to finish eight shots behind tournament champion Alex Rocha. A 66-67 start this week finds the 28-year old Florida State alum only one shot off the lead heading into the weekend. Del Solar was 1-under for the day through No. 8 and picked up his pace with four birdies on 9, 13, 15 and 18.

“There wasn’t much wind early, but it’s hard because you have to get a good score (and) make a ton of birdies. [Thursday] I played really well, shooting 6-under in windy conditions. Today it was good too, especially on the back nine, I was very consistent overall,” said Del Solar, who stayed home in Chile for two months after playing the Chile Open and won two events on the local pro tour.

Trailing by two after back-to-back 67s, Mitchel Meissner had a stellar stretch on the front nine Friday morning. In a second round he started on No. 10, Meissner shot 5-under in a span of four holes. That hot streak started at the par-5 second, his 11th hole, where he sank a 45-foot eagle putt before going birdie-birdie-birdie on the next three. “There are different stretches on the course where you can get going and start making putts. To see a long one go in (on two), I think helped me and gave me some confidence on the next few holes,” said the 25-year old Rice University alum playing his third consecutive season on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.

After missing two cuts in a row to start his PGA TOUR Latinoamérica career, Stephen Stallings, Jr. came to Estrella del Mar Country Club riding the confidence provided by a top-25 finish at the PGA TOUR’s American Express less than a month ago. He went on to have three rounds in the 60s at PGA West, including a final-round 67 to tie for 25th as a sponsor-exempt player. The 27-year old from Louisville, Kentucky, has had a strong start this week, carding a 68 that included five birdies in a row Thursday and a bogey-free 66 Friday. It has been a nice return for him to Estrella del Mar Country Club, where he finished the 2018 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Q-School tied for 39th, just outside the top 35 who earned status that year.

Coming off an opening 71, one shot outside the cut line, Tour No. 2 Alan Wagner started the day failing to make birdie at the par-5 10th. He then bogeyed No. 12. “I told my caddie (good friend Tommy González) on the fairway on 13, ‘I promise you we’ll be out here this weekend.’ and things worked out. We had a lot of fun the rest of the day,” said Wagner, who won the second event of the season in wire-to-wire fashion last December in Chile. After his slow start Friday, the 32-year old made a strong charge, making eight birdies and only one bogey on the remaining holes to shoot a 6-under 66 that moved him into a tie for 19th.

Jorge Fernández Valdés, the Totalplay Cup points list leader, followed his opening 67 with a 71 to tie for 25th, at 6-under. This is how the players inside the Totalplay Cup Points List top 10 stand through 36 holes:

Coming off an opening 71, former PGA TOUR champion Andrés Romero made it safely into the weekend by carding a 4-under 68. The 2018 Zurich Classic of New Orleans champion is tied for 35th, at 5-under. Kevin Stadler, the other past PGA TOUR winner playing this week at Estrella del Mar, couldn’t come back from an opening 75. Although he improved to shoot 72, his total of 3-over left him way behind the cut line.

After an opening round of five bogeys and only two birdies to shoot 3-over 75, things didn’t look good for Brendon Doyle. Starting the second day tied for the 124th spot, the 26-year old from Louisville, Kentucky, turned things around with eight birdies for a second-round, 7-under 65 to share the low-score-of-the-day with tournament leader AnthonyPaolucci, and Evan Long. Unfortunately for Long, who went bogey-free Friday, his 65 followed an opening 76 for a total of 3-under that will leave him one shot outside the cut.

In the tie for second at 11-under, Armando Favela of Tijuana and Emilio González of San Miguel de Allende are the leading Mexican players heading into the weekend. There were 26 local players starting the tournament Thursday and the following 11 are the ones who remains in position to make the cut for the top 55 and ties:

Quotable

“I’m happy to be where I am right now, but this tournament is far from over.”—Anthony Paolucci

“It’s just a funny place, because even with the wind you can make a ton of birdies. I know in the past scores were really low, I’m not sitting at 11-under feeling like amazing because I could have easily gotten to 14- or 15-under today and just didn’t do it, and you know it’s going to keep going down. Someone can tee off early tomorrow and shoot 8-, 9-, 10-under and get back in it.”—Matt Ryan

“There’s a lot of birdies to be made out here. You just have to keep it in play. Pars don’t kill you, but you are going to make birdies, so you have to be waiting for them.”—Stephen Stallings Jr.

Second-Round Weather

Cloudy. High of 75. Wind NW at 16-25 mph.