He's 20, He's Unpaid, and He Was Tied for 2nd.

Everybody around him on the leaderboard was playing for a paycheck. Kihei Akina was playing for free.

Akina, a 20-year-old sophomore at BYU, opened 67-64 at Vidanta Vallarta and hit the weekend at 11 under, in a five-way tie for second at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open. Three back of Andrew Novak, whose second-round 61 was doing a lot of the work.

Moving day put the college kid in the final group with Novak and Matthieu Pavon. No pressure.

He opened Saturday bogey-bogey. Then he settled down, shot 68, and went to bed at 14 under, tied for seventh, nine behind a Novak who decided 62 was a good follow-up to 61.

So no, he's not tied for second anymore. He's still the most interesting guy on the board.

Here's why. Amateur means zero prize money. What Akina is actually playing for is PGA Tour University Accelerated points. He earned his 12th point by making the cut Friday, per PGATOUR.com. Twenty points gets a college player straight onto the PGA Tour.

Another top-10 finish would be point No. 13. He'd be the fourth player ever to earn status through the pathway.

Think about the incentive structure for a second. Every pro in that field gets a check for finishing T7. Akina gets a number on a spreadsheet. Somebody pay this man. (They legally can't.)

Sunday decides whether that spreadsheet moves. Either way, a BYU sophomore spent a weekend in Mexico making PGA Tour pros look over their shoulders.

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