Ethan Tracy Holds Lead at PGA TOUR Canada Q-School in British Columbia

Courtenay, B.C. – SPORTS – Galloway, Ohio’s Ethan Tracy carded his second consecutive 5-under 67 on Wednesday at Crown Isle Resort and Golf Community to take the 36-hole lead at PGA TOUR Canada’s British Columbia Qualifying Tournament.

The 25-year old, who finished tied for second at PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s Lexus Panama Classic presented by World Jewelry Hub last week, carded three birdies and an eagle on the day to lead by three over Kansas City, Missouri’s Michael Letzig, Moscow, Pennsylvania’s Nicholas Reach and London, England’s Charlie Bull.

“It was a very similar round I just didn’t put myself in trouble. It was very simple golf, making my crucial par-savers and my putts inside 10-feet,” said Tracy, who sits eighth on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Order of Merit. The University of Arkansas graduate’s 67 was tied for the best round of the day on Wednesday.

Following his runner-up performance in Panama last week, Tracy had a troublesome travel day and did not arrive in Courtenay until late Monday night, and said he’s doing his best to conserve energy this week.

“After the round I did nothing. I just watched a couple of movies on Netflix, relaxed and went to dinner later with my dad,” said Tracy of his opening-round 67 on Tuesday. Despite the hectic schedule, Tracy said he’s comfortable in his position and sees more solid play in his near future. “I’ve always played my best golf when I’m playing a lot, so I’m just trying to keep on playing. If I need a break, I’ll take one, but I’m playing well enough that I need to keep on playing right now.”

Letzig, who led after round one with a 6-under 66, offset four bogeys with five birdies to share second with Reach and Bull, with Taiwan’s C.T. Pan and Bear, Delaware’s Eric Onesi one further behind at 6-under.

3: Canadians in the top-10: Wil Bateman (9^th), Stuart Anderson (T10) and Thomas Hay (T18).

2: Players in the last six years to play PGA TOUR Canada after winning the Ben Hogan Award while playing at the University of Washington (Nick Taylor and Chris Williams). C.T. Pan, named a finalist for the award on Wednesday, is looking to join them.

1: Bogey-free rounds on Tuesday: Ethan Tracy (67).

The medalist this week will earn exempt status on PGA TOUR Canada for 2015. Finishers 2-18 will be exempt through the first six events and subject to the re-shuffle, with the rest of the top 40 (plus ties) earning conditional status. The cutoff for the top 18 through the first round was at 1-under, with the cutoff for the top 40 at 2-over.

“The last three years I’ve only been a semi-finalist, so this is really special to me. It would be extraordinarily good for my school. If someone thinks of the University of Washington, they might think there aren’t any good golfers there, but we are trying to prove them wrong.” – C.T. Pan, who was named a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award on Wednesday.

“I’m here to get my Web.com Tour card. I had my full status in 2013, and then I had nothing. I played a lot of Monday Qualifiers and felt like I played a lot of good golf, and had nothing to show for it. This is pretty cool to have Web.com Tour cards available, and hopefully I’ll play well the next couple of days and be part of the TOUR.” – Michael Letzig, a veteran of 114 starts on the PGA TOUR and 80 on the Web.com Tour, on his decision to try and qualify for PGA TOUR Canada.

“It’s actually really nice because we’re still in season and playing as amateurs, so it’s our first time trying the pro stuff. I think it’s really important and good to have somebody with you, just learning the ropes together. We’ve been learning a lot, and there’s a lot more to learn too. It’s all a learning process and I’m excited to go through it.” – Nicholas Reach on playing Q-School as an amateur alongside fellow Georgia Bulldog Mookie DeMoss.