BROOKSVILLE, FL | Oscar Alvarez fought through light rain and tricky pin postions with an even-par 72 Wednesday to remain at 5-under 139. Alvarez, who is being helped by tour caddie B.J. Pitzen, is in a tie for 20th place and one shot outside the cut line after 36 holes in the Web.com Tour's second stage of Q-school at Southern Hills Plantation.
Alvarez's round consisted of two birdies and two bogeys, which made it not as eventful as Tuesday's round (67) filled with eight birdies and three bogeys. Alvarez bogied the formidable par-4 No. 6 by leaving his approach shot well short of the green and failing to get up-and-down for par. The Colombian's second shot with a 4-iron from 232-yards on the par-5 No. 12 was past pin high and led to an up-and-in from the light rough for birdie. Two holes later, Alvarez drained a 15 foot birdie putt on No. 14 to go 1-under for the day. On No. 16, Alvarez left his 68-yard approach short of the green leading to an untimely bogey. The 30-year old capped off his round with an up-and-down from the bunker on No. 18.
Alvarez, who received an exemption into second stage by finishing in the top-20 in the first seven tournaments on the PGA Tour's Latinoamerica Tour, played again Wednesday with Arjun Atwal (71) and David Branshaw (69). Branshaw sits in a tie for 12th place at 6-under par while Atwal is in a tie for 27th at 4-under.
Two rounds remain as 76 players will be vying for 19 spots and ties to the Web.com Tour finals in La Quinta, California on Dec. 12-17 at PGA West's TPC Stadium and Nicklaus TC courses. Alvarez tees off No. 1 Thursday at 8:53 a.m. with PGA Tour player Patrick Sheehan and former U.S. Amateur champion Byeong-Hun An.
Pitzen, who toted his best single round score Tuesday as a caddie and is on track with Alvarez to turn in his best performance, will be on the bag for the duration of second stage. Catch the leaderboard all week live from Brooksville as Pitzen tries to help Alvarez move on to the finals at the following web address: http://pgatq.bluegolf.com/blue