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Downpours late Saturday afternoon turned the greens into ponds at the Fox Hill Country Club in Exeter.

A golfer runs for cover during a rain delay at the John Allan Tournament at the Fox Hill Country Club in Exeter on Saturday afternoon.

The waterlogged approach to the 18th green at Fox Hill Country Club in Exeter during Saturday’s rain delay in the John Allan Tournament.

EXETER — The heartbreak kid is turning into a hometown hero.

And even a stoppage of play Saturday in the Allan Tournament couldn’t dampen Zach Mulhern’s outlook.

Teaming with his dad, the former Wyoming Area golf star remains among the leaders after a rain-shortened second day at Fox Hill County Club and remains in strong contention for a title at his home course entering today’s final rounds of the Allan Tourney.

“No one’s out of it until they decide the championship rounds,” Mulhern said.

Mulhern may be best remembered for being left out of a high school state tournament.

A former District 2 Class 2A finalist and Times Leader All-Star, Mulhern was on the brink of playing his way to the 2012 PIAA tournament during his senior season at Wyoming Area. He reached the Eastern Regionals that year, and was sent to a five-man playoff to decide the region’s final Class 2A spot at states.

He lost by a stroke, and it turned out to be his last high school event.

“I three-putted the last hole and missed out on states,” Mulhern said.

The memory remains with him, but in a positive way.

“To be honest, I learned from it,” Mulhern said. “You cant’ give up. I was young then, I had a lot of fire in me. But ever since then, I’ve become a better player.

“And that was kind of the turning point.”

Mulhern is turning his attention back to the area.

He spent a year with Brandon Matthews on Temple’s golf team, then took a year off from golfing before deciding to head to Misericordia University to play on the greens this fall.

“I’m going to Misericordia to play with (former Pittston Area standout) Tyler McGarry, my good friend,” Mulhern said.

He’s off to a good start toward getting his name back in the game.

Mulhern and his father, John, shot a blistering five-under 66 on Friday to open the Allan Tourney with a one-stroke lead over the team of Robert Gill and Brian Corbett.

“Me and my dad, we usually make a lot of birdies (but) they’re usually accompanied by a lot of bogeys,” Zach said. “That didn’t happen. It really came together for us (Friday).”

They weren’t clicking quite as well on a rain-soaked Saturday, but then, nobody seemed to be having much success.

As the course began to accumulate water through a day-long rain, play was stopped for a two-hour delay – then finally postponed with no team in the championship flight able to complete 18 holes. The flight was scored through seven holes for each team, with Brendan Carroll and Pat Ross shooting a 3-under 24 to lead the pack and move into second place in the overall standings.

The field will complete the tourney by golfing 18 holes this morning, then the finalists will battle through a nine-hole playoff this afternoon.

“It was tough,” John Mikiewicz said of the rain. “It got heavy, lightened up, then a downpour came.”

Mikiewicz and his partner Tom Biscotti wound up shooting 1-over Saturday after finishing 2-under Friday and sat in sixth place as they began making a run toward their third consecutive Allan Tourney title.

“Not really making a run, more like holding the fort,” Mikiewicz laughed. “We’ve got some work to do.”

It didn’t work out quite as well for the Mulherns on the second day as it did on the first, as their lead slipped away. They finished Saturday at 3-over par 30 in the wet weather and head into today tied with two other teams for fifth place.

They’re behind three teams tied for first place with a two-day total of 94, including this month’s winner of The McCarthy Eric Williams and his partner Dave Kluger – who shot a 1-under 26 Saturday.

It wasn’t the grounds that were giving the Mulherns as much trouble as the equipment.

“It’s tough when you lose your grip, it makes things that much harder,” Zach said. “It gets in your head and it becomes almost mental at that point.”

At least, though, the Mulherns kept control of their destiny heading into a final day of a tournament that promises to be much brighter.

“Me and my dad don’t really golf well in the rain,” Zach said.