Mark Lawrence Jr. tied for the lead at US Amateur

Rising junior cards 64 in first round of stroke play

August 14, 2017

Virginia Tech golfer Mark Lawrence Jr. shot an opening round 6-under 64 and is tied for the lead at the 2017 U.S. Amateur Golf Championship. The weeklong event is being played at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California and Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, California.

Lawrence, a rising junior from Richmond, Virginia, jumped out to a tremendous start at Bel-Air on Monday morning. He eagled the par-5, 492-yard first hole and made the turn with a 31, aided by a second eagle, this one coming at the par-5, 506-yard eighth. He also birdied the fifth. On the back nine, Lawrence had two birdies and a bogey, coming on the par-4 18^th hole.

Lawrence is tied with Norman Xiong of the University of Oregon and Hayden Wood of Oklahoma State. Xiong and Wood posted their 64s at nearby Riviera Country Club. The trio has a two-stroke lead over Arthur Griffin of Charleston Southern, who also played at Bel-Air on Monday.

Lawrence will play his second round on Tuesday at Riviera Country Club. He tees off of the 10^th hole at 1:18 p.m. Pacific Time, grouped again with Kyle Slattery of Southern Illinois Edwardsville and Arjuna Anday, a recent Columbia graduate.

The field of 312 golfers will play two rounds of stroke play, playing both Riviera and Bel-Air. Following Tuesday’s second round, the top 64 golfers will enter match play, to be contested solely at Riviera. All rounds of match play will be broadcast by either Fox, FS1 or usga.org, culminating in a 36-hole final match, to be played on Sunday, Aug. 20.

For updates on Virginia Tech men's golf, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_MGolf