BUENOS AIRES (Augusta National Communications) – Justin Hastings of the Cayman Islands and Peru’s Patrick Sparks co-lead at eight-under 136 at the midway point of the Latin America Amateur Championship at Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Hastings and Sparks sit one shot ahead of Erich Fortlage of Paraguay and Jose Antonio Safa of Mexico.  An invitation to this year’s Masters Tournament will be extended to the winner after Sunday’s final round.

The second round was interrupted due to inclement weather at 3:52 p.m. local time but resumed at 6:02 and finished just before dark.

Playing in the morning wave, Sparks, a recent graduate and current assistant coach for the University of North Carolina – Wilmington men’s golf team, made five birdies and three bogeys to stay atop the leaderboard ahead of the weekend.

“It’s exciting to be in this position,” said Sparks. “It’s hard not to think about it. I want to take things slowly and enjoy these next two days, and we’ll see what happens at the end of the week.”

Hastings surged on Friday afternoon, tallying eight birdies capped by one on his final hole following the weather delay. The seven-under-par 65 in the second round is a Championship career low in his sixth appearance. The senior at San Diego State finished fourth last year in Panama City, Panama after a final-round 67.  

“I knew I needed to make a bit of a move today after a slow start yesterday; I got two of the first three [birdies] and got hot in the middle of the round,” said Hastings. “Then the horn blew when I was on 14 when I was seven under, which was a little bit of a buzzkill. Changing conditions was a big thing to adjust to.”  

Fortlage, who is making his fourth LAAC start this week, put together the best round of his Championship career and set a new single-round mark for a Paraguayan player with a six-under 66, spurred by four birdies in his opening six holes. The 18-year-old is a freshman at the University of Arkansas and is looking to surpass the best finish by a player from Paraguay (previously T-9 in 2018 by Gustavo Silvero).

Pablo Lacayo of Nicaragua, recorded a 17 on No. 2 to open his fifth LAAC start, finishing 17-over-par on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, the 20-year-old Sacred Heart University junior fired a 69 to record the most contrasting pair of rounds in Championship history.

“I’m trying to forget about it, leave it in the past,” said Lacayo. “That’s just how golf is sometimes. Today, I just made sure to keep my head up and enjoy this great tournament with a smile on my face.”

For more information on the Latin Amateur Championship, please visit LAACgolf.com and follow @LAAC_Golf on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube.