Connor Murphy shot a blazing four-under-par second round to finish the day at two under and leads the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Golf Championship at Vaaler Creek Golf Club.

Southwestern recovered from a challenging opening round to post a huge comeback in round two to finish the first day in third place with 595 strokes, just two strokes out of second.

Gusty winds out of the north throughout the morning made the challenging course even more so as the Pirates posted a 308 team score with no one shooting under par for the round. Texas Lutheran matched the effort and the two teams entered the second round tied for third.

Winds calmed as did the Pirates as the second round got underway. Southwestern's confidence grew and they began to collect birdies and make a run late in the day.

Jordan Cowart came in tied for sixth with a 146, improving six strokes over his first round (76-70). Sutherland Stith shaved five strokes off round one to finish tied for 15^th on the day with a 153 (79-74). Cody Hebert was close behind with a 154 (79-75) and tied for 17^th and Tyler Gammill went 80-81 to finish in 23^rd.

Murphy's 142 strokes is one stroke ahead of Trinity's Redmond Lyons and Kalen Vos.

Southwestern will look to finish the comeback on Tuesday with tee times beginning at 8:40 am.