LAAC – Four Players to watch on moving day

51 players have made the cut in the Latin America Amateur Championship at Casa de Campo. Who might climb the leaderboard on moving day?

Colombia’s Nicolas Echavarria is leading the way on seven-under par in the Latin America Amateur Championship at Casa de Campo but 33 players are within 10 shots of the 21-year-old. The tournament is still wide-open and many of those heading out at the time of writing have a very real chance of making a move today and putting themselves in the position to challenge for victory and the prizes that go alongside that.

The winner of this tournament will receive an invitation to the 2016 U.S. Masters. He will also earn an exemption into The Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl and to any USGA amateur championship for which he is eligible (including the US Amateur.) The winner and runner(s) up gain an exemption to Final Qualifying for The Open Championship at Royal Troon and final stage qualifying for the US Open at Oakmont CC.

Who then might challenge Echevarria’s lead on moving day?

Alejandro Tosti

The Argentinian is currently in second place on four-under-par and will start today with great confidence and momentum after a superb 65 yesterday. He was runner-up last year so knows how to deal with the pressures of contesting this tournament. He’s had a tough year, suffering a bout of encephalitis and coming to terms with a new life studying in Florida. He uses meditation to stay calm on the golf course and seems to have full control over his game both physically and mentally.

Jorge Garcia

The young Venezuelan has been playing extremely well in patches over the first couple of days but has struggled to find consistency. He’s one-under-par and just six back – a 67 today would put him right in the mix.

Matias Dominguez

The defending champion is also on one-under through two rounds. The Chilean showed great resilience to stay in the picture despite a couple of big errors over the first two days. He’s been out-of-bounds twice so will feel he should be much closer to Echavarria’s leading score. He’s, obviously, fully aware of what it takes to win this event and that will count massively in his favour.

Joaquin Niemann

The 17-year-old from Chile won the World Junior Championships at Torrey Pines last July. He’s an extremely talented player with the ability to shoot low scores – he fired a third round of 66 en-route to his victory at Torrey Pines for example. He produced some solid golf in the more difficult conditions of yesterday afternoon to card a 71 and end day two at level par. A low number today and he'd be right in it.