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Moving day at the Met Open

Moving day at the Met Open has lived up to its name on day two of the 96th edition of the Met Area’s most prestigious championship sponsored by MetLife. After the morning wave of tee times, the action included lowest round of the tournament and a shift at the top of the leaderboard.

After blitzing the front nine with a 5-under-par 30, Joe Horowitz of Lido jumped up the leaderboard after an opening-round 74, leaving him at 137 for the championship, one stroke off midday clubhouse leader Morgan Hoffmann of Arcola.

“When you shoot 63, you get pretty excited because it keeps you at least in the mix,” Horowitz said after his round. One of the key moments for him came on the eleventh hole, when the wind picked up and he had a 12-foot putt for birdie to bring his round to six under. After the putt dropped, Horowitz wanted more: “You start thinking to yourself ‘Okay, let’s get it to seven and eight under, and at one point I did get it to eight under. Being 32 and having played professional golf for 8 years, you get to that number (8-under) and you just want more birdies.”

After a 67 in his first round, Hoffmann, 22, shot 69 in his morning round to leapfrog first-round leader David Schuster of Haverstraw. The former Oklahoma State Cowboy and Walker Cup team member is looking for his first MGA victory since his win at the 2005 Carter Cup.

Schuster shot a 71 of his own in the second round to remain in contention heading into Thursday’s final round. Another player joining Horowitz and Schuster at 137 is Del Ponchock of Hudson National, who carded four birdies and three bogeys in his second round. Frank Esposito Jr. of Brooklake had another solid round and currently sits at 139.

Notable players playing this afternoon that have a chance to catch Hoffmann include Danny Balin (67) of Burning Tree, Kevin Foley (68) of Neshanic Valley and Tyler Hall of Packanack (68).

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