Moving day in a golf tournament is usually on a Saturday, with players trying to make a move after making the cut. Patrick Azevedo and Griffin Barela made their move to the top of the Navajo Trail Open leaderboard on Saturday.
Azevedo and Barela each shot -4-under-par-67 on Saturday in the second round of the Navajo Trail Open. The -4 under scores put their tournament score at -5 under par to lead the field heading into the final round on Sunday.
“I’m pleased with it for sure,” Azevedo said. “I got off to a good start … I didn’t play overly aggressive today, but I was aggressive when I could and conservative when I needed to.”
Azevedo grew up on a dairy farm in eastern Washington and played golf at the Division I University of Wyoming. He graduated in May, moved down to Dallas and is pursuing a professional career.
It’s Azevedo’s first Navajo Trail Open and his third professional event. He’s driving from Dallas back home to Washington to spend a few weeks with his family. The Navajo Trail Open fit into his travel schedule.
“The course is in incredible shape,” Azevedo said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I went to school in Laramie, but I’ve never been this far south into Colorado. It’s so pretty out here and we’ve had some great weather, so it’s been great.”
Azevedo’s round couldn’t have gotten off to a better start with an eagle on the par 5 10th hole. (The pros started on the back nine.) Azevedo crushed a drive and only had 180 yards to the green for his second shot. He hit a pitching wedge to about 18 feet and then drained the eagle putt.
After the 10th hole, Azevedo bogeyed the par 3 15th after three-putting and then birdied 16 and 17 to finish his first nine -3 under par. Azevedo parred his first eight holes on his back nine and finished the round with a birdie on the tricky par 3 ninth.
The round could’ve been better for Azevedo, but he missed some opportunities around the green on the front nine to finish his round.
Azevedo was happy with his start lines off the tee. He likes to play a pretty big cut and aimed his shots in the right spots and let his cut do the work. An example of this was on the par 4 first hole. He aimed his tee shot into the water, knowing his ball would cut back into the fairway.
Barela didn’t start his round with an eagle like Azevedo, but had an exciting first nine with four birdies, three pars and two bogeys. He started playing more consistently on the front nine (his back nine) and had two birdies to get him tied for the lead.
Behind Azevedo and Barela was Round 1 leader Tony Mike Jr. He finished even par on Saturday and stayed at -4 under for the tournament.
Mike Jr. had a good round going with three birdies and a bogey on the back nine to card an opening nine 34. But he ran into trouble with four bogeys on his back nine, which put him +2 over par for his final nine and brought him back to even par for the day.
Christian Muscarello showed his consistency by carding a -2-under-par-69 for the second consecutive day to put him tied third at -4 under.
“It was scrappy,” Muscarello said about his round. “I played a lot of better yesterday but that’s golf. Some days you play well and don’t score and other days you don’t play as well and score. It was a little sloppier today with a couple little mistakes.”
Muscarello started the day with a birdie on 10 but then bogeyed 12 and 14. He wasn’t happy with how he did anything, but his round turned around with a long birdie putt on 15 with some break. He then birdied 16 and 17 to get some good momentum going.
Another birdie on three kept the good momentum going before he bogeyed six, birdied seven and bogeyed eight.
Muscarello isn’t worried about the leaderboard, is focusing on his own game and is playing against the course as he’s only one shot back of the lead heading into the final round.
Defending champion Wil Collins still couldn’t get going on Saturday and finished +1 for the day and is tied-ninth at +1 for the tournament. He finished with four birdies, nine pars and five bogeys.
Conquistador Golf Course PGA Head Professional Micah Rudosky had a nice second round and finished -1 under par. He’s now tied-13th at +3 over par for the tournament.
Tee times and pairings for Sunday are unavailable at press time, but check https://www.golfhillcrest.com for the latest updates.
