WEST ORANGE, N.J. (August 19, 2026) – Brent Ito of MGA eClub – Hudson Valley holds the lead at 11-under in the 111th Met Open Championship Presented by Callaway after firing a 6-under 65 in the second round at Essex County Country Club.
Ito, 27, started his round strong with birdies on Nos. 1-2, then again on Nos. 5 and 7 to make the turn at 4-under. Despite a bogey on No. 10, he recovered and had birdies on Nos. 11-13 to finish with a 65 to jump to the top of the leaderboard late in the afternoon.
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“I’ve been in the fairway, I think 85% for the week, so just being able to stop the ball and attack pins you couldn’t attack from the rough is a huge benefit,” Ito said of his on-course success.
“Keeping it really simple this week,” he said. “Just hitting it really well. Hitting a lot of greens and then staying patient. I kind of switched over from armlock and we’re doing conventional blade style now so have a little bit of a better feel for the speed and touch so hoping that continues for tomorrow.”
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Ito holds a one-shot lead over 2020 Met Open champion Luke Sample of Old Oaks, who matched his first-round score with another 66 and sits at 10-under.
Sample recorded six birdies on Wednesday. Starting on No. 10, he birdied Nos. 12-13 and 16-17. On his back nine, he had two more birdies on Nos. 1 and 3. The 23-year-old’s lone bogey came on the par-4 fifth hole and he finished at 5-under for the day.
“For a while, I felt like I was playing much better than I did yesterday, Sample said. “Yesterday, I said I kind of wasn’t sure how 5-under stacked up to how I felt like I played, but today for the most part, I felt like I executed pretty well to start and obviously getting off to a great start helped. Especially, [I] gave myself a little bit of breathing room the last few [holes] where I was not as sharp. So, excited to go out there tomorrow and hopefully get off to that start again.”
Nolan Forsman of Winged Foot sits at 9-under after following up a 2-under 69 with a sizzling 7-under 64. After starting his round on No. 10, the 25-year-old made the turn in 2-under. Over his final nine, Forsman rolled in six birdies to just a single bogey for the tournament-low round.
“I’ve been playing good golf, so it’s good to see it come into a tournament,” said Forsman, who pointed to putting as the key to his scoring. “I’ve been working hard on my putting and these greens are really good – kind of like Winged Foot, poa annua. It’s just hard work paying off – I finally got to see some putts drop.”
Meanwhile, overnight leader Cole Ekert of Fairmount, 2012 Met Open champion Danny Balin of Fresh Meadow, and two-time MGA Player of the Year Michael Miller of Knollwood all sit at 8-under for the championship.
Ekert followed his Tuesday 65 with a 2-under 69, while Balin and Miller posted scores of 4-under 67 and 5-under 66, respectively, on Wednesday.
“I’m kind of just playing within myself, playing to my strengths,” said the 44-year-old Balin. “I’m trying to get it to a comfortable number with the wedge and trusting my reads on the green and putting a good stroke on it.”
Balin rolled in six birdies on Wednesday, making three in a four-hole span early in his round (Nos. 2, 3, and 4), and adding three consecutive on Nos. 12-14.
“There’s a lot of young guys out here that are bombing the golf ball and are really good,” said Balin. “I kind of have to play my own game, stick to my own game. … If I can find some fairways tomorrow and stay confident on the greens, you never know what can happen.”
For Miller, the Met Open has long been a championship that he’s set his sights on, and he’s thrilled to be in the mix again after top-three finishes in both the New York and Connecticut opens earlier this summer.
“This one is always circled on the calendar, and you want to be part of it – and to be in contention is what I came here for,” said the 34-year-old Miller. “I’ve wanted this one for a long time. I’ve been lucky enough to win the Met Junior, the Met Amateur – this is the one that’s left, so I’d love for tomorrow to be my day.”
Amateur Matt Lowe of Bethpage, Michael Graboyes of Watchung Valley, Melan Dhaubhadel of Alpine and amateur Fritz Smith of Stanwich all finished at 6-under and will look to climb the leaderboard on Wednesday.
A total of 65 competitors made the cut to advance to the final round at 3-over or better, including past Met Open champions Dylan Newman of Meadow Brook (2-under), David Pastore of The Golf Performance Center (1-under), Josh Rackley (even), Matt Dobyns of Meadow Brook (1-over), Peter Ballo of Wykagyl (1-over), Tyler Hall of Upper Montclair (1-over), Grant Sturgeon of Arcola (3-over) and Andrew Svoboda (3-over).
Wednesday’s final round will begin at 7:10 a.m., with players teeing off on both the first and tenth holes.
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