Victorian rookie professional Brett Coletta has enjoyed one of the finest days of his short career at Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament in Ohio.
Coletta, 20, fired a second-round 69 with seven birdies to leap on to the leaderboard at Muirfield Village before two late bogeys saw him dip to a tie for 15th place through two rounds.
At three-under, he easily made it through the cut to ensure he is around for the weekend.
It is just his second start as a professional after a brilliant amateur career in which he was runner-up to Curtis Luck in the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship and won a SA amateur title and a Victorian junior masters.
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American Jason Dufter (14-under) is running away with the tournament, leading by five shots, but a group of Australians have performed well headed by Coletta and Marc Leishman, who is four-under and tied for 13th. Adam Scott (two-under) is also having a decent week after a second-round 66, although Jason Day (two-over) struggled into the weekend’s play.
Asian Amateur champion and US amateur winner Luck made the cut on the number at three-over, but Ryan Ruffels, one of the three young Australian pros who secured invitations to play this week, missed out after shooting a second-round 76.
