Shintaro

Ban

The 24-year-old had it on cruise control today with eight birdies and an eagle while keeping a clean card throughout his round. He lapped the field as the closest competitor turned in a score that had three strokes more. Ban had a stellar career at UNLV but arrived with six straight missed cuts in OWGR events and a 1-for-4 record in PGA TOUR events. He reached as high as 9th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings during his time at UNLV. Others to play their way into this week’s Safeway Open included Andy Zhang (-7), MJ Daffue (-6), and Luke Schniederjans (-6). The latter two had to survive a 4-for-2 playoff with Brian Davis and Alex Lee falling short in that playoff.