There was a time when a double-bogey in the middle of his round would have been a bad omen for Jason Duff. 

“It would have derailed me,” said the University of North Florida sophomore and Menendez graduate. 

Not lately. And not on Friday in the second round of the Jacksonville Area Golf Association Jacksonville Amateur. 

Jacksonville Amateur Saturday tee times, groups

Duff hit his tee shot in the hazard at the par-4 10th hole and eventually made double to fall into a tie for the lead with Johnny Watts. But Duff summoned his resolve and birdied three holes in a row later on the back nine and with a 71, remained in the lead at 7-under-par 137, two shots ahead of Watts (67) and Osborn Theam (70), a Bolles and LaGrange College graduate who is 12-under in his last four competitive rounds. 

UNF assistant golf coach Jeff Dennis (69) is alone in fourth at 3-under and Creekside graduate Andrew Riley (69), the medalist earlier this week at a U.S. Amateur qualifier and Luke Cusick of Jacksonville (70) are tied at 3-under. 

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Duff, who had a three-shot lead to start the day, was 1-over at the turn before his errant tee shot at the 10th, the product of what he said was a swing that had gotten a little too quick at the top. 

“I was struggling with my swing,” said the ASUN freshman of the year who started eight tournaments for the Ospreys last season. “But I re-set it after that and started to hit some quality golf shots.” 

Those shots set up an 8-foot birdie putt at No. 12, a two-putt birdie from 30 feet at the par-5 13th and a 15-footer for birdie at the 14th. 

Duff lipped out for birdie at No. 15 and held his round under-par with a 15-foot par save at No. 17. 

Watts charged into contention with a bogey-free round that came on a series of short birdie putts. None of his birdies were longer than 4 feet and the former member of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and Ball State graduate missed only one fairway, the 18th by just a pace. 

“I never really got into much trouble,” said Watts, who moved to Jacksonville in 2018 and works for RevMed, a medical lab services company. “It was a relatively low-stress round, a fun round.” 

Watts qualified for the Latin American Tour at the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour but had gotten only three starts, with two cuts made, before the pandemic shut down professional in 2020. 

“I had some really good conditional status and I think I would have been able to start every tournament if COVID hadn’t happened,” he said. “So I decided to go to work and get my amateur status back.” 

Watts has been playing with some of the other top amateurs in the area such as Duke Butler IV, Pablo Mena and Lenny Schoenfeld, who convinced him to enter the Jacksonville Amateur. 

“They told me how much they love playing in JAGA events and how well the tournaments are run,” he said. “I still love the competition. I still want to play well and win. That will never go away. The good news is that as an amateur, the bad shots don’t hurt as much.” 

Duff or Watts can’t sleep on the third player in Saturday’s final group. Theam shot 67-70 in the U.S. Amateur qualifier at St. Johns Golf and Country Club and is tied for the tournament lead with 11 birdies through two rounds. 

Theam had an adventurous back nine, with five birdies, two bogeys and two pars. But he finished strong, rapping in 15-foot birdie putts on the final two holes. 

“That held the round together,” he said. “There are some tough pins out here this week. Some you feel comfortable being aggressive on and some you have to pick your poison.” 

Dennis, one of Duff’s coaches at UNF, got up-and-down from greenside bunkers to make birdie at the par-5 7th and 13th, then had his second nifty up-and-down at the par-3 15th hole, pitching from near the cart path on the left to within a foot. 

“A bogey there would have deflated me,” he said. “I’ve saved myself twice on that hole.” 

Riley birdied four of six holes on the back to join Dennis at 4-under. 

Forty players made the 9-over cut. Eight players will be within five shots of Duff when Saturday’s final round begins. 

“He’s been solid the last two days, really striking the ball well and hitting a lot of good iron shots,” Theam said of Duff.  

Mark Ellison, Jr. 72-70--142 

Duke Butler IV 74-77--151 

Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com