Zack O'Riley has been consistent through two rounds of the Fourth of July Classic.
The Jonesboro native matched Thursday's first-round 2-under-par 62 with another one Saturday in the second round to lead the tournament at War Memorial Golf Course in Little Rock by two strokes over Rodrigo Rivas and Ryan Spurlock. O'Riley had 1-under 31s on both sides of the course Saturday, which included a slam-dunk eagle putt at No. 12, the course's only par-5 hole.
O'Riley drove his tee shot left on 12, leaving him with a lone tree partially blocking his path to the green. He rolled a 7-iron about 160 yards onto the front of the green. With the flag cut in the back left, he put so much steam on his eagle attempt that it banged off the back of the cup and fell to the bottom.
"It was a very boring round, but the eagle helped make the difference," said O'Riley, whose best finish in seven years playing in the tournament is sixth. "It probably would have gone by about 6 or 7 feet by if it hadn't hit the hole. I tried to get some momentum after that, but I couldn't find any."
The eagle left him at 5 under at the time, four shots ahead of Spurlock and five ahead of Beau Glover, his playing partners.
Glover, who has four second-place finishes in the tournament, was a stroke behind O'Riley coming into the second round, but he suffered a 1-over 65 that included several nice irons shots, including one he nearly holed out at the par-3 9th. But similar to his birdie attempt there that found a seam and drifted off line, Glover's putter failed too many times Saturday.
"I really didn't hit that many bad shots," Glover said. "I hit two perfect shots on 18 [and made bogey]. I've got to get something to fall [Sunday] to have a chance."
Spurlock, the tournament's 2017 runner-up, got off to a rough start in his second round, bogeying three of his first five holes before rallying with three consecutive birdies to make the turn at even-par 32. Another birdie at No. 12 put him 1 under, where he finished over the final six holes.
Spurlock's 63 put him at 2-under 126 along with Rivas, who shot an even-par 64 in the opening round and a 2-under 64 Saturday that included a bogey after an errant tee shot on No. 7 went out of bounds. A 2018 graduate of the University of Central Arkansas and a native of Chile, Rivas will be in today's final grouping with O'Riley and Spurlock.
Despite the bogey on No. 7 and another on No. 5, Rivas -- who finished runner-up in last year's Fourth of July Classic to Chris Jenkins -- was 3 under on the front nine with three consecutive birdies on Nos. 2-4, and two more on Nos. 6 and 9. Rivas went 1 over on the back nine, which included consecutive birdies on 12 and 13, consecutive bogeys on 14 and 15, and a closing bogey on the par-4 18th.
"I hit the ball great, some very good second shots, especially on the front nine," Rivas said. "I was within 10 feet on 2; 3 feet on 3; 4 feet on 4; 5 feet on 6; then had had a very good up-and-down on 7 to save bogey.
"Where to put the ball is very important here. It's also good to have a little dose of luck."
Jenkins -- the 10-time tournament champion, including the past five in a row -- tied O'Riley, Rivas and Grayson Martin for Saturday's low round of 62, which included a 3-under 29 on the back nine. He is tied for fourth with Glover and Martin at even-par 128.
Wes McNulty's lone bogey came at the 18th, leaving him with a 1-under 63. A two-time tournament champion, McNulty sits five strokes behind O'Riley with a 1-over 129.
Fourth of July Classic scores
War Memorial Golf Course, Little Rock
Par 64
Second of three rounds
OPEN DIVISION
Zack O'Riley 62-62--124
Rodrigo Rivas 64-62--126
Ryan Spurlock 63-63--126
Beau Glover 63-65--128
Chris Jenkins 66-62--128
Grayson Martin 66-62--128
Wes McNulty 66-63--129
Joey Nichols 64-66--130
Derek Bailey 67-65--132
Cameron Reesor 68-65--133
Scott Crisco 69-64--133
Devon Whitaker 67-69--136
Jay Lester 70-66--136
David Connell 66-71--137
Josh McNulty 69-68--137
Nick Crisco 69-68--137
Bradley Barnes 70-69--139
Jake McNulty 68-72--140
Rob Brown 65-76--141
Russell Wrentz 75-69--144
E.Timmins Jr. 68-77--145
Jack Lester 68-78--146
Rivers Bryant 69-77--146
Jamie Barker 73-74--147
Jim Balch 71-76--147
Bill Burkhalter 73-79--152
Colin Osment 78-76--154
Andy Biernat 77-78--155
Mastin Frazer 75-81--156
Eddie Talburt 81-84--165
Jim Woods 84-95--179
MID-SENIOR DIVISION
Kyle Thompson 63-66--129
Trey McIntosh 65-64--129
Wes Daniels 68-67--135
R.Neighbors 65-71--136
Jason Neidhart 71-69--140
Jamie Barker 70-71--141
Timo Anderson 72-71--143
Sean Chaney 77-90--167
SENIOR DIVISION
Bev Hargraves 64-64--128
John Tetens 64-64--128
Tracy Harris 68-61--129
Barry Davis 63-68--131
Kirby Webb 71-63--134
Greg Connell 68-67--135
Wally Landrum 69-67--136
Dane Glover 66-71--137
Curtis Savoy 69-69--138
Jeff King 69-69--138
Greg Norris 69-73--142
Mike Pickens 80-WD--WD
SUPER-SENIOR DIVISION
Dill Gunn 68-64--132
Bill Wrentz 70-66--136
Cal Campbell 69-69--138
Jim Smith 70-68--138
Gary Whitt 69-70--139
Ogugua Uchendu 69-71--140
Vic Fleming 74-66--140
Clark Fitts 71-72--143
Keith Browning 70-76--146
Jack Brodie 81-67--148
Mark Healy 72-78--150
Dan Hill 75-76--151
Tim Larkin 75-76--151
Wally Erwin 72-81--153
Byron Freeland 82-73--155
Jim Fowler 80-86--166
John McCarty 82-86--168
MASTERS DIVISION
Charlie Angel 67-66--133
Dan Young 72-69--141
Sam McAllister 70-71--141
Charly Jones 67-76--143
Fred Robertson 73-70--143
Grant Hall 78-70--148
Wendell Owens 74-74--148
Steve Buford 79-74--148
Floyd Hickerson 83-75--158
MATCH PLAY
1st flight
Andrew McCarty def. Bruce Henley, 19 holes
Cade Hanson def. Sam Cooper, 7 and 6
1st flight consolation
Justin Wittenberg def. Willie Mergenschroer, 2 up
Fred Brown def. Mark Griffin, 1 up
2nd flight
Kevin O'Malley def. Skip Lemke, 6 and 5
C.L. White def. Robin Wynne, 19 holes
2nd flight consolation
Vincent Marks def. Scott Smith, 2 and 1
James Thomson def. Carl Hines, 4 and 3
Sports on 07/07/2019