Kannapolis, NC – On golf's developmental tours, there are countless collegiate "All Americans," former PGA and Nationwide Tour players, and a multitude of talented kids who have taken the common road of top-level Division I golf followed by a declaration of turning professional. Then there is Todd Murphy. A former PGA TOUR caddie and arguably the definition of "laid back," Murphy took the road less traveled to get where he is today. Where he is right now is sitting atop a stacked leaderboard at the eGolf Tour's sixth annual Southern Open, just 18 holes away from claiming his first tour title.

Murphy, who resides in Phoenix, AZ, began the third round at The Club at Irish Creek trailing 54-hole leader Trevor Fisher by three shots at 9-under 133.

A benign start featuring pars on Nos. 1-3 gave way to a torrid stretch of play in the middle of his round when he was able to convert birdies on Nos. 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 to vault to 5-under for the day. A birdie at the long par-4 17th would push his total to 6-under for the day, but a closing three-putt bogey at the par-3 18th would end an otherwise stellar round on a sour note, leaving him with a third-round 66.

    "I don't even want to talk about 18," joked Murphy after his round. "I left a 40-footer 7 feet short and then left that putt a foot short. It was a terrible way to end the round."

Martin UretaMurphy, playing in the day's final pairing, came to the scoring table un-aware that his round of 66 had netted him a one-shot lead over Chile's Martin Ureta. When told he was the leader, his nonchalant reaction said it all. Yet another chilled out afternoon in the life of Todd Murphy – and it has been a pretty interesting life.

After growing up in Colorado, Murphy decided to attend New Mexico State University and try to walk on the school's golf team. While he did manage to walk on, he didn't last very long as he dropped off the team after just one semester. It is there that the journey began.

While still in school, he began giving lessons at a club in Colorado and in 1995 decided to head west to Maui to do the same at the famed Kapalua Resort – host of the PGA TOUR's SBS Championship each January. For five years, the fun-loving kid from Colorado lived "the dream" in Hawaii as a teaching pro on arguably one of the world's most scenic properties. In 2000, it was time to give professional golf a legitimate shake.

"I love that place. There is just something about the island and the ocean and the feel of it all, but I had to go try and play," said Murphy, who visits Kapalua for two weeks annually to play in the resort's famed Clam Bake.

Playing mini-tours in the early 2000's with some of today's best players, Murphy got a love for the road and the camaraderie that can develop amongst guys at this level. He also managed to learn a lot about himself and his own game.

"I played and traveled with Zach Johnson, Vaughn Taylor, Ben Curtis and Will MacKenzie," said Murphy, who notched one win during those years. "Those guys were my crew. They inspire me every day when I turn on the TV and see them ‘doing it.'"

While watching his former running mates claim PGA TOUR titles and major championships on television, Murphy decided it was time to get an even better view of the action. After caddying for MacKenzie at Q-School in 2004, Murphy decided to latch on to his former mini-tour pal for the 2005 west coast swing.

"I just said I'd help out early on, and then figured he would get a more permanent caddie," said Murphy. "After the west coast swing, he convinced me to go to Florida for the next month, so off we went."

Weeks and then months went by, and the guy everyone called "Murf" was still on the bag for one of the TOUR's most colorful characters. When the 2006 season rolled around, Murf decided that he would stay on again since he felt as though he was learning so much.

"Caddying for Will was great. I learned a whole lot about how guys really do it," he said. "You have to know what you're good at and base your game around that. They just play to their strengths. Zach Johnson? Probably the best putter on Earth."

In August of that year, MacKenzie won his first TOUR title at the Reno-Tahoe Open with Murphy on the bag. The check was worth $540,000 to MacKenzie, and roughly 10 percent of that to Murphy (based on standard caddie contracts). With a little more cash in his pocket, the idea of playing again slowly crept back in his head. But that was not the time to abandon Will, especially not coming off a win.

"He was playing so good, and that win got him in the Deutsche Bank Championship the next week where the winner took something like $990,000. I would have been an idiot to leave then," Murphy said.

While a missed cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship likely cooled the world domination jets, it didn't exactly send Murphy back out to play on a full-time basis; however, that day was slowly building.

"Every week I was trying to quit, and every week Willie was trying to get rid of me," Murphy said with a laugh. "I mean, we love each other, but I was jealous of him being out there and he wanted me to go play."

Following the conclusion of the 2007 season, Murphy put the bag down and picked up the clubs again. With some sponsorship money behind him, and a wealth of PGA TOUR-issued knowledge, the day was getting late for another run.

"You get a feeling of how the PGA TOUR really is. How to travel, how to get a hotel, where to eat; you just learn a lot," said the 39-year-old. "It was a brilliant opportunity to get out there even though I wanted to quit every day. I had to take what I learned and give it another go."

Fast forward to July of 2010, and Murphy is on the precipice of winning the largest check of his professional career. All the hours spent watching his friends achieve their dreams, and the Colorado kid is doing his best to join them – just taking a slightly longer route in getting there.

"You learn every day and you just absorb so much out on TOUR, because you're surrounded by guys just getting it done," said Murphy. "This is why we play. I'm real pumped and ready for tomorrow."

With 11 players within five shots of his lead, Murphy will have to play stellar golf on Saturday in order to win. Ureta, who will be paired with Murphy in the final round, might just be the guy to steal the former caddie's limelight.

A Chilean native now living in Chapel Hill, NC, Ureta put together rounds of 71-63-66—200 to move into solo second only one shot behind Murphy. After a non-descript first-round 71 at Irish Creek on Wednesday, Ureta has since posted 14 birdies against one lone bogey over the last 36 holes.

After a standout career at UNC Chapel Hill in which he garnered "All America" honors three times, Ureta is finally settling into the life of professional golf and is in the midst of his best season yet on the eGolf Tour. He has two top-5 finishes in just five starts this year and has posted only one over-par round since the Golf in Morocco Classic in March. In November of last year, Ureta was selected to represent his country in the prestigious World Golf Championships – World Cup, an international event featuring two-man teams from various countries around the world.

With a late-June trip to Las Vegas behind him, Ureta is back and as focused as ever on his immediate goals and what he needs to achieve them.

Jhared Hack"I spent all of last week practicing, so it's nice to see it pay off," said Ureta. "I want to make sure I have a good shot at the tour's Q-School bonus at the Tour Championship, so these two weeks are pretty important to me."

Following the conclusion of the Tour Championship in August, the tour will pay for PGA TOUR Q-School for the top 20 members on the money list.

In solo third is Jhared Hack of Sanford, FL. Hack, who bogeyed Nos. 16 and 18 en route to a third-round 68 on Friday, is two shots behind Murphy and looking for his second career eGolf Tour title after winning the Snap Fitness Open in May of 2009.

Saturday's final round will begin at 7:30 AM with players competing in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.