PHOENIX, Md. – Former Towson University golfer Ryan Siegler is poised to become the third Towson Tiger to win the prestigious Maryland Open after consecutive rounds of 65 at Hillendale Country Club Course on Monday and Tuesday.

He is 14-under par after 36 holes and leads the field by four strokes with 18 holes to play Wednesday.

Towson Athletics Hall of Famer Billy Wingerd, who won the event in 2007, is tied for fourth place – seven shots back.

Siegler, who graduated in 2016, made seven birdies without a bogey Monday. This afternoon, he made seven birdies during a 10-hole stretch between holes six and 15 to build a four-stroke advantage. After a bogey on 17, he finished with a birdie on 18, a 561-yard Par 5.

"I have been playing well leading up to this," said Siegler. "Yesterday and today, I hit the ball well. Whenever you don't make bogeys, it is a testament to hitting it well. Yesterday was stress free. I made a couple of long putts to make it a special day. Today, I made the putts I needed to make during that stretch. They were all hit pretty close. At 6, I hit it to about three feet. At 7, I made an eight-footer and a five-footer on 8. I hit it to three-feet on 10 and 12 and two-putted for birdie on 13. When you are rolling like that it seems kind of easy."

Siegler ranks fifth on the all-time list in rounds played (103) and 20^th in scoring average. Turning professional in 2018, he has earned status on both the Korn Ferry and PGA Canada tours. He has finished in the top five in the last three Maryland Open tournaments, including a tie for second place a year ago. 

Siegler will play in the final group Wednesday with Brandon Berry, who shot an 8-under 64 on Tuesday, and is 10-under for the tournament, and defending champion Evan Katz who is five strokes off the lead after rounds of 68-67.

Wingerd is tied for fourth place at 7-under after rounds of 66-71. He began the day was one shot behind Siegler after 18 holes after a bogey-free round on Monday morning. Wingerd began today's round on the back nine and was even par after eight holes before back-to-back birdies on 18 and 1 got him to -8 for the tournament. After a bogey on 2, he finished with seven straight pars.

Wingerd is the top two golfer in school history. He became Towson's first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship medalist and Player of the Year when he captured the individual conference title in 2004. He is the only Towson golfer to earn first team All-CAA honors three times and earned a spot on the CAA's 25th Anniversary men's golf team in 2010. He was named Towson's Male Athlete of the Year as a senior and was inducted into the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017. On the Towson leaderboard, Wingerd remains the program's career average leader at 73.00 over 104 rounds.

Wingerd will be on group in front of Siegler – playing with Alex Hoffman, who shot a 63 Tuesday, and two-time champion Sean Bosdosh.

"If I keep hitting it the way I hit it the first two days and putt alright it should be a good day," added Siegler, who has 16 birdies with just two bogeys and 18 pars after 36 holes. "It seems pretty obvious what holes I want to hit driver and where I need to hit irons. I will keep the same game plan and I know there are a lot of players within striking distance. I am going to have to make birdies to win."

David Hutsell (class of 1992) was victorious in 2011.

Eight of the 128 golfers who teed it up at the Maryland State Golf Association (MSGA) event were either current or former Towson University golfers. Hutsell (74-74), Mike Larkin (77-74), Brad Riley (78-73), Adam Argenbright (76-77) and Jai Sheth (80-78) failed to advance to Wednesday's final round. Chris Baloga withdrew with a back injury after shooting an opening round 76 (+4) on Monday.

The event is open to both amateur and professional golfers and has been played annually since 1921 at a variety of courses around the state. The format is 54 holes of stroke play, with all players playing 36 holes and a cut to the low 40 scorers and ties for the final round.

Previous winners include Fred Funk, who won 29 professional tournaments including the 2005 Players Championship and the 2009 U.S. Senior Open, and Denny McCarthy, who has seven top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season and is currently ranked 32nd in the World Golf rankings.