By Pete Kowalski, USGA

Tulsa, Okla. - Ben Martin, 21, of Greenwood, S.C., carded a 2-under-par 68 Tuesday at Southern Hills Country Club and holds the lead for medalist honors at the halfway point of the second day of stroke play at the 2009 U.S. Amateur.

Martin, who is a senior at Clemson University, totaled 1-over-par 141 for 36 holes and is one stroke better than Bud Cauley, 19, of Jacksonville, Fla., Trent Whitekiller, 23, of Sallisaw, Okla., and James Sacheck, 23, of The Woodlands, Texas. His 68 matched the low score of the first day shot by 50-year-old real estate developer Tim Jackson of Germantown, Tenn. Jackson plays his second round at Cedar Ridge Country Club at 1:45 p.m. CDT this afternoon.

“It was a steady round all day long,” said Martin, who is a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection. “I didn’t get into too much trouble and I tried to keep it on the low side of the hole.”

Martin qualified for the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y., but missed the cut, shooting 72-78--150.

He shot a 1-over-par 73 at Cedar Ridge Monday but followed with a stellar round that ended with a holed bunker shot for a birdie 3 on the ninth hole.

“Yesterday, I went in the afternoon and the wind picked up during the middle of the round,” Martin said, who will celebrate his 22nd birthday on Wednesday. “Today, I was the first group off. The greens were perfect. The wind didn’t really pick up until the back nine. I just had great conditions out there and I took advantage of it.”

The par-70, 7,093-yard Southern Hills layout that has hosted three U.S. Opens, has yielded just four sub-par rounds thus far. Only 10 scores below par have been carded at the par-70, 7,331-yard Cedar Ridge course, which co-hosts the stroke-play portion of the championship.

Pete Kowalski is a Manager of Communications for the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at pkowalski@usga.org.