Gabriella Then began the second round of the IOA Golf Classic presented by Aperture at 2-over, just one shot outside of the projected cut line, but little did she know she’d be in contention come Sunday’s final round. The 29-year-old fired the lowest score of the week, carding a bogey-free, 8-under 63 on Moving Day.

Then made eight birdies during the second round, signing for her lowest 18-hole score on the Epson Tour since she carded a 62 in the first round of the 2022 Carolina Golf Classic presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. She is now sitting at 6-under for the tournament and is only two strokes behind the 36-hole leaders.

“It does not happen often. A 63 is amazing,” said Then. “The bogey-free was really consistent. I kept driving it in good positions, and I never really put my ball in weird spots, so I was able to get up and down if I missed the green from an okay spot, and I had a lot of birdie chances.”

Despite a perfect scorecard, the California native didn’t feel like there was a turning point in her round or anything that stuck out as particularly memorable. Consistency was key to keeping her scorecard clean and her momentum going.

“I don't know if there was a point where I realized that it was something special, but I was 3-under at the turn, and I knew that I had a lot of birdie chances coming on the back nine, so I just wanted to get the back nine started well,” said Then. “And then when I birdied 10 and 11, the difficult par 3, I was like, oh man, I'm already at five, so just keep it steady, keep it consistent. And then a couple more fell in throughout the round.”

Then took a page out of Justin Thomas’ book, watching and learning from the PGA Tour winner’s televised second round at The PLAYERS Championship where the major champion blitzed TPC Sawgrass with a 62 on Friday after posting a 78 in the first round.

“What’s funny is I was watching Justin Thomas at The PLAYERS, and he shot 78 or something, and then yesterday, he shot 10-under and had an over 15-stroke turnaround,” said Then. “I was watching the TV yesterday, and I was like, oh, that would be really nice if I could do something close to that tomorrow. And I was like, oh, it turned out okay at 8-under.”

After accomplishing a similar comeback on Saturday, Then will be looking to take home her second Epson Tour trophy on Sunday in Longwood, Fla. She’ll tee off Alaqua Country Club’s first hole at 9:39 a.m. local time with Bi Shin and Juliana Hung.

Gabriella Then Has Justin Thomas Moment During Round Two of the IOA Golf Classic presented by Aperture

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