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San Antonio - Paul Goydos seized a three-shot lead by shooting a five-under 65 in Friday's second round of the $6.1 million PGA Tour's Texas Open.
Goydos, who opened with a superb seven-under 63 on Thursday, moved to a 12-under 128 total for a three-stroke lead over a pack of five that included fellow American Justin Leonard.
"It's just kind of like being the pace car, for lack of a better word," Goydos said. "We're going to go out and play two more rounds of golf, but the tournament's going to be in front of me tomorrow, which is kind of cool."
Tied with Goydos heading into the second round, three-time champion Leonard shot a 68 on Friday.
Leonard, who has also been runner-up here twice, is in a group at nine-under with Ted Purdy (67), Scott Sterling (63), John Mallinger (64) and Mathias Gronberg (65).
After a superb performance on the greens on Thursday, Leonard had more difficulty on greens dried out by wind and warm temperatures.
Gronberg, who finished third here in 2007, had a round highlighted by an eagle at the par-four 12th
"It's a good place for me," said the Swede. "Normally certain players play good in certain places, and this golf course has been very good to me over the years."
The 44-year-old Goydos needed just 25 putts and he posted six birdies on the day. His only bogey came at his opening hole, the 10th.
Goydos took some time off earlier this year after his ex-wife, Wendy, died unexpectedly in January.
She had fought drug addiction linked to her long battle with severe migraine headaches. Goydos has two teenage daughters.
He was delighted to be heading into the weekend with the lead.
"This is why you play," he said. "If I wasn't comfortable where I am right now, I need to find another profession.
"This is why we play, practice and endure rough weeks, so we learn something, to improve and get better. And tomorrow is going to be another chapter in that learning process of becoming a better player."
Leading second-round scores on Friday in the $6.1 million Texas Open (USA unless noted):
128 - Paul Goydos 63-65
131 - Justin Leonard 63-68, Mathias Gronberg (SWE) 66-65, Ted Purdy 64-67, John Mallinger 67-64, Scott Sterling 68-63
132 - Kent Jones 67-65, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 66-66, Brian Davis (GBR) 65-67
133 - J.P. Hayes 71-62, Stephen Ames (CAN) 66-67, Greg Owen (GBR) 65-68, Marc Leishman (AUS) 64-69
134 - Briny Baird 68-66, Lee Janzen 66-68, Bill Haas 67-67, Jeff Maggert 64-70
135 - Aron Price (AUS) 69-66
136 - Greg Chalmers (AUS) 69-67, Tim Clark (RSA) 67-69, Matt Jones (AUS) 67-69
137 - Carlos Franco (PAR) 71-66, James Nitties (AUS) 68-69
139 - Charlie Wi (KOR) 68-71, Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 71-68, Nathan Green (AUS) 70-69
Failed to make cut:
140 - Daniel Chopra (SWE) 71-69, Steve Allan (AUS) 70-70, Nick O'Hern (AUS) 70-70, Tim Wilkinson (NZL) 69-71
142 - Jarrod Lyle (AUS) 7270, Grant Waite (NZL) 68-74
144 - Jesper Parnevik (SWE) 70-74, Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 74-70
145 - Stephen Leaney (AUS) 71-74, Stephen Dartnall (AUS) 73-72
146 - Alex Cejka (GER) 73-73, Jason Day (AUS) 76-70
148 - Phil Tataurangi (NZL) 72-76, Chris Baryla (CAN) 74-74
150 - Trevor Dodds (NAM) 70-80
157 - Jose Coceres (ARG) 80-77
