Arman Newton bounced back from a disappointing opening round to comfortably make the cut in the boys 14-15 division at the prestigious Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday.

The Saltus student shot an impressive three-over 75 in the penultimate round of the 54-hole stroke play event at the Golden Palm course to jump from 68th to a share of 26th at 13 over, nine shots inside the cut mark.

Newton was two under through five holes after carding back-to-back birdies at the 4th and 5th holes but bogeyed the next two holes to make the turn at even par. The 15-year-old dropped another shot at the 10th but got back to even after rattling in another birdie at the 15th.

However, his fortunes took yet another twist with three successive bogeys on the remaining holes blemishing an otherwise valiant effort.

Newton got off to a poor start the previous day with an 11-over 81 at the 6,581-yard Blue Monster course.

Thailand’s Tantikorn Klinpeng and Canadian Oscar Ricketts are tied for first at the top of the leaderboard, two shots clear of the rest of the field at two under with 18 holes left to play.

Also flying Bermuda’s flag at this week’s Optimist International Junior Golf Championships is Dylan Muso, who is competing in the boys 16-18 division, which tees off at the Blue Monster course on Friday.

Compatriots Lewis MacFarlane and Lachlan Soutter also got the opportunity to test their skills competing in their respective divisions at the championships last week.

MacFarlane finished tied for seventeenth in the boys 10-11 division while tournament debutant Soutter finished 90th in the boys 12-13 division.

The Optimist International Junior Golf Championships is regarded as one of the largest and best-known junior golf tournaments in the world and features more than 600 golfers annually.

More than 5,000 golfers compete in official Optimist District qualifying tournaments with the best advancing to the annual Optimist International Junior Golf Championships.

Former champions and top finishers of the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships include Lexi Thompson, Beth Bauer, Jonathan Byrd, Jason Day, Bill Haas, Brittany Lincicome, Jeff Overton, Stacy Prammanasudh and Jennifer Rosales.