Bowditch on Top at Valero Texas Open


Steven Bowditch followed up his opening 3-under 69 with a 67 to vault to the top of the leaderboard in the Valero Texas Open. The $6.2 million PGA Tour event is taking place at TPC San Antonio in Texas.

Bowditch, a 30-year-old Australian in search of his first Tour title, began play on the 10th tee. He carded three birdies and an eagle on the par-4 12th (his third hole at the start of the round) when he holed out from 82 yards to make the turn in 5-under 31.

On the back side, the two-time Web.com Tour winner tacked on two more birdies on his 11th and 12th holes to get to 7-under on his round.

But, after five straight pars, Bowditch capped his round with a double on the par-4 last for a 67. "It was a frustrating way to finish," he said in a TV interview. "I hit a couple of bad shots the last hole unfortunately but all in all it was good."

Bowditch stands at 8-under 136, a stroke ahead of journeyman Chad Collins, a 35-year-old from Indiana, who fired a seven-birdie, one-bogey 66. Also at 7-under is first-round leader Andrew Loupe, who's carded rounds of 67 and 70.

Because of a two-and-a-half-hour fog delay at the start of Thursday that led many unable to complete their first rounds due to darkness, players went off both the first and 10th tees in the second round. As Friday went on the scoring became tougher with the wind picking up.

Bowditch, who needed to complete three holes in his first round before starting the second, took advantage of the early milder conditions. "I got off to a good start this morning, finishing off my first round, and then sort of kept it rolling there for a little bit. It was good. I'm happy with it."

Pat Perez and Danny Lee opened with 68s to begin the second round a stroke off Loupe's lead. Perez carded a 1-under 71 in the afternoon and was at 5-under 139 along with fellow American Cameron Beckman (70). Lee was 6-over on his round through 10 holes and 2-over for the tournament.

The tentative cut was at 3-over 147. Defending champion Martin Laird of Scotland shot a 77 and didn't make the weekend. Phil Mickelson opened with a disappointing 5-over 77, but the five-time major winner birdied the 18th for a 70 and is sitting right on the number.

Because of Thursday's fog delay and a long Friday, the final cut won't be established until Saturday morning as darkness again halted play. Several players will return Saturday morning to complete their second rounds.

For updated scoring, visit http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html.