BYU sophomore Kihei Akina has another low PGA Tour round and contending in Mexico Open

VALLARTA, Mexico (AP)– Kihei Akina cracked in for birdie on the last hole Friday for a 7-under 64 and his name atop the leaderboard in the Mexico Open, and there was every factor for the 20-year-old sophomore at Brigham Young to seem like this was old hat.

It was his ninth round of 67 or lower on the PGA Tour in his last 4 competitions, dating to the sponsor exemption he got in the Wyndham Championship. He currently has one leading 10, in the Bank of Utah Championship.

“I’m feeling more comfy with each round played,” stated Akina, who was at 11-under 131 and connected with Matthieu Pavon and Adrien Dumont de Chassart with half the field still to play.

Akina definitely looked the part at Vidanta Vallarta, where he made 3 birdies on the par fives and got his eagle on the obtainable par-4 13th when he drove the green from 296 lawns.

“We had about 287 to the front of the green which’s what I was attempting to strike,” Akina stated. “So simply a good, roasted draw mini-driver for me, landed in an ideal area and rolled down to tap-in. That was a reward for me.”

His life dream is to use the PGA Tour and he’s making exceptional development. Dating to August and the Wyndham Championship, Akina has actually gotten 7 points in the PGA Tour University program for underclassmen. He gets one point for every single PGA Tour cut and one point for a leading 10.

Akina now has 12 points, leaving him 8 far from having access to a PGA Tour card. He likewise got 2 points for playing in the Walker Cup, where he went 1-1-1 at Lahinch in Ireland.

“I’ve simply got to keep playing well and keeping my foot on the gas,” he stated. “Feel like I’m doing that quite well today.”

Various about today was his travel schedule. Akina remained in Bermuda recently and connected for 17th in a competition interrupted to 54 holes since of high wind. It was over to Mexico, and it’s like he didn’t miss out on a beat.

“My very first time going from an occasion to another occasion, so back-to-back. It’s a bit various for me because element,” he stated. “Feel like every brand-new competition, every brand-new round is a discovering experience for me, and this one here was an actually excellent experience for me up until now.”

Akina matured beside Turtle Bay, about 5 miles from the Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, and his household transferred to Alpine, Utah– in between Salt Lake City and Provo– when he was 10. He had scholarship deals to most leading programs and selected to remain near home.

It definitely hasn’t harm his advancement. Akina currently depends on No. 9 on the planet amateur golf ranking, assisted not just by his PGA Tour efficiency however a runner-up and fourth-place surface in his last 2 college occasions.

Perhaps it assisted to be having fun with somebody his own age– Blades Brown, who turned professional as a junior in high school and made his PGA card through the Korn Ferry Tour this year.

Brown shot 65 and was 2 shots behind Akina. In the group was 22-year-old Luke Clanton, a previous No. 1 amateur and the 2nd gamer to make a trip card through the PGA Tour University sped up program.

“That was an incredible, remarkable organizing the last 2 days,” Akina stated. “I believe that assisted keep me sort of loose out there.”

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