San Antonio, TX (My Sportsbook) - Chris Stroud fired a six-under 64 on Friday to move atop the leaderboard after the second round of the Texas Open at La Cantera.
Stroud finished 36 holes at 10-under 130 and is two shots ahead in this, his first time as a midway leader on the PGA Tour.
Paul Goydos, who lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff at The Players Championship, shot a four-under 66 and is tied for second place with four-time PGA Tour winner Tim Herron (67) and Tim Petrovic (65). The trio is knotted at minus-eight.
Stroud started off with a birdie at the par-five opening hole. He lost that stroke thanks to a missed 15-footer for par at the second, but Stroud came right back with a birdie at No. 3.
His front nine included birdies at five and nine to get the Lamar University product to seven-under par for the championship.
Stroud birdied the 11th, 13th and 15th holes to grab his two-shot lead.
"I'm really starting to hit the ball better," said Stroud. "I wish it would have happened a few weeks ago or a few months ago. Putting is going well. I'm working hard on staying very, very calm and level out there. The more laid back I am the better I play."
Stroud has not enjoyed this season much, thanks to a knee injury he suffered at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Thanks to some "mushy" ground at Poppy Hills, Stroud twisted his left knee and briefly considered taking a minor medical exemption halfway through the season.
"Canadian Open was probably the worse. It was so painful," admitted Stroud. "I remember hitting one shot that was really thick rough that week and I hit one shot and I almost went into tears. It's just been frustrating."
Thanks to an icing program and rest, Stroud is playing solid golf. He needs to. Stroud, who got his card this year by finishing third in Q School, is 209th on the money list and needs a big Fall Finish to play on tour next season.
"We have two more rounds here and I have five more tournaments this season," said Stroud. "I'm putting myself in a marathon here. I'm going to play every round I can the same."
Rory Sabbatini (66), Matt Jones (64), Olin Browne (69), Kevin Streelman (63), Kevin Stadler (66), Jimmy Walker (66), Michael H. Thompson (65), Jeff Overton (64) and Joe Ogilvie (67) are knotted in a tie for fifth place at seven-under- par 133.
Overnight-leader Nathan Green struggled badly on Friday. He shot a five-over 75, 13 strokes worse than his opening-round 62, and fell into a tie for 41st place at minus-three.
Defending champion Justin Leonard shot a one-under 69 in the second round and made the cut on the number at one-under 139.
Other big names weren't as fortunate. Davis Love III, David Duval, Lee Janzen and Jesper Parnevik, who lost to Leonard in a playoff last year, all have the weekend off.
