Matt Liston (Southeastern Amateur photo)

Liston, a rising junior at the University of Kentucky, overcame an early double-bogey at the par-5 4th hole, and shot his second straight under-par round on a day when scores were higher than in round one.

In fact, Jonathan Hardee's tournament record is looking pretty safe at the halfway point of the tournament. Last year, Hardee set the record shooting 18 under par for four rounds (a 262 total). This year the classic Donald Ross course is defending itself quite nicely, and today didn't allow a single score below 3 under.

Chip Thomas (Knoxville, TN), got it to 6 under for the tournament with two holes to play, but suffered a double-bogey 6 on the 17th. He did rebound with a birdie on 18 and sits in solo second at 5-under after a round of 69.

The other round one co-leader Jamie Mist (Hayling Island, England) shot a 1-over 71 on Thursday but is still in good position, tied for third at 4 under, two shots back. Also at that figure is Scott Odell (Claxton, GA), who shot his second consecutive 2-under 68.

With four players tied for 5th at 3 under, and another three at 2 under, it is still a wide-open tournament with two rounds to go.

In all, 13 players are under par through two rounds of play.

Round three is Friday, with Liston, Thomas and Mist set to tee off in the final group at 1:30pm.