Cowan surged to the top of the individual leaderboard with an 8-under 62, taking a two-shot lead while posting the second-lowest opening round in SEC Championship history. As a team, the Sooners fired a 14-under 266 — the third-lowest opening round in championship history — to sit just one shot behind No. 12 Ole Miss (265, -15).
“Really solid start for us today,” head coach Ryan Hybl said. “We stayed patient, played clean golf and capitalized on opportunities when they came. There’s a lot of golf left out here, but this puts us in a good position heading into tomorrow.”
The championship begins with three rounds of stroke play before the field is cut to eight teams for match play. Oklahoma’s 266 leaves it eight shots clear of the projected cut line with 36 holes remaining.
The Sooners settled in early, avoiding a bogey until the fourth hole to stay in contention. Cowan, last off the tee for OU, opened with back-to-back birdies to push the Sooners into red numbers for good. Oklahoma played its opening nine at 9-under, with Cowan, Jase Summy and Cameron Cheek all contributing red numbers. The momentum carried through the back nine, where OU added another 5-under to close the day at 14-under.
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