Late birdies put Walker in front
San Antonio-area resident shoots 67 for one-shot edge.
Jimmy Walker enjoyed a neighborly stroll at TPC San Antonio after a 35minute drive from his suburban home.
Walker shot a 5-under 67 on Friday in the Texas Open to take a one-stroke lead in his hometown event. He won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January after winning three times last season.
“It’s nice to have friends and family here,” Walker said. “Good vibes and good mojo, and I believe in all that stuff. Positive energy is good.”
Walker overtook firstround leader Charley Hoffman with three straight birdies late in his round.
Hoffman, 8 under at the turn, let a good round get away with three bogeys on his second nine. He finished with a 72 to drop into a tie for second with Aaron Baddeley.
Hoffman has two topthree finishes in his previous four appearances at the Texas Open. Baddeley had a 71. “I’ll keep drawing on my experience here, and I think you can get this golf course,” said Hoffman, who led by two entering the day.
Kevin Na, who infamously took 16 strokes on a par 4 in the event four years ago, had a 68 to join Texan Jordan Spieth at 4 under. The 21-year-old Spieth, coming off a playoff victory two weeks ago at Innisbrook, followed his opening 71 with a 69.
The gusts near 40 mph that blew Thursday morning continued to subside, though play started Friday with temperatures in the 40s.
“But it wasn’t windy, so that was nice,” Walker said.
The improved conditions packed the leaderboard with nine players within four strokes of Walker. That included Phil Mickelson, continuing to cram for the Masters less than two weeks off, at 2 under after a second-round 72. He was tied for sixth.
“It was a good first two days,” said Mickelson, who has a best finish this season of 17th at the Honda Classic. “I putted well and hit some good iron shots, but I’ll have to work on the driving tomorrow. I played Augusta a few days before I came here and I was driving it great. I haven’t hit it the way I felt I have been hitting it.”
FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel (70), Zach Johnson (71), Chris Kirk (71) and 2011 winner Brendan Steele (68) also were 2 under.
Johnson felt a jarring sensation in his right ring finger when he hit a rock while swinging from the native area to the right of the 12th fairway. He continued and expects to play this weekend.
Francisco Molinari, the former European Ryder Cup player, withdrew before the round because of a wrist injury he said happened while shooting 81 in the wind Thursday.
Jim Furyk and Dustin Johnson managed to survive for the weekend as the cut dropped a stroke in the afternoon to 6 over. Both made it on the number, and Furyk kept a streak of consecutive cuts made, now at 33. Steve Stricker, not playing this week, has the best active streak at 35.
Marc Warren and Harris English made the cut in their bids to earn Masters spots by getting into the top 50 in the world.
Colin Montgomerie and Joe Durant shared the lead at 5-under 67 after the first round of the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Saucier. Montgomerie finished with a birdie on the par-4 ninth at Fallen Oak. He won the Senior PGA Championship and U.S. Senior Open last year.
Durant also closed with a birdie on No. 9. The four-time PGA Tour champion is winless on the 50and-over tour.
Champions Tour:
European Tour:
Welshman Oliver Farr missed the chance to take the outright lead by bogeying the last hole at the Trophee Hassan II in Agadir, Morocco, and was in a four-way tie after shooting a 4-under 68. Scotsman Richie Ramsay, Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Australian Richard Green also sit at 6-under 138.