WARREN, Ohio - Junior Connor Harrington shot a 73 (+1) during his second trip around the par-72, 7,287-yard course at the Avalon Lakes Golf and Country Club on Tuesday afternoon and that effort led three other Muleriders that posted stroke-shaving performances as Southern Arkansas registered a ten-stroke improvement to shoot 300 (+12) in round two stroke play of the NCAA DII National Championship in Warren, Ohio.
The Muleriders prepare for a 7:30 a.m. (ET) tee time for Wednesday's final round of stroke play. SAU will be paired with Fayetteville State and fellow Central Region foe Washburn. Fans can follow live scoring of Wednesday's third round action at https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=stats&tid=26012.
Harrington weathered a roller-coaster of a scene over his first four holes of play bogeying No. 1 out of a fairway divot, birdying holes No. 2 and No. 4 which sandwiched a left-handed shot out of a heavily-wooded area that led to an entertaining bogey on No. 3. He then proceeded to rattle off 11 straight pars as he went even on 13 of his final 14 holes to finish one over par and tied for 73rd with a two-round total of 152.
One stroke under Harrington over his first 36 holes is Logan McDonald who carries a 151 into the final round of stroke play. McDonald dropped a single stroke from his 76 on Monday as his second round 75 included ten made pars, three birdies and an eagle on par-5, 542-yard No. 3. He is currently the highest positioned Mulerider at tied for 66th.
Luke Cote enters Wednesday with a two-round total of 154 after posting an 80 in Tuesday's second round. Cote notched 11 pars and a birdie in round two.
Brendan Little and Caleb Miller are both tied for 97th entering the final round of stroke play, but each improved Tuesday from their opening round scores. Little bettered by four strokes behind a dozen pars and a birdie. Miller showed the biggest drop in strokes with eight as he recorded a trio of birdies including back-to-back on holes No. 4 and No. 5, while also making ten pars.
SAU recorded nine birdies and added 56 pars; 15 more than the group produced on Monday. The Muleriders' best scoring effort through two rounds has come on par-3 scoring where SAU is +6 which is eighth among the twenty team field.
Miller leads the team in par-3 scoring at even and McDonald is shooting -5 on par-5 scoring. Harrington's +5 on par-4 scoring paces the team entering Wednesday.
