Brian Harman made eight birdies and two bogeys for a 6-under 66 to reach 12-under and take the halfway lead at the Valero Texas Open. He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (6.540) and Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (5.064)
Harman holds his eighth 36-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour. He equaled the largest 36-hole lead of the season held by Aldrich Potgieter at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld.
In nine starts this season, the American has recorded three top-25 finishes, highlighted by a T17 at The Genesis Invitational. Harman has three PGA Tour wins to his name, at the 2023 Open Championship, 2017 Truist Championship and 2014 John Deere Classic.
“It’s been pretty good, controlling my distances nicely. It’s one of the demands this place makes on you, you have to really have control of your ball. Ball lands on the green, they’re a lot firmer than they seem, and if you’re playing from out of position it’s really tough,” said Harman.
“It has been a slow start [to the season], a little uncharacteristic. I’ve been pretty frustrated, I haven’t really been able to put my finger on what it is that’s kind of holding me back. So nice to take a couple weeks off and regroup and at least have a couple nice days so far.”
American Keith Mitchell made five bogeys and signed for a 72 to stay in second place at 8-under. He is playing in his 158th start since his lone PGA Tour win at the 2019 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
Mitchell is projected to be No. 1 in the Aon Swing 5, with the top five FedExCup points earners (not otherwise exempt) in the Puerto Rico Open, Valspar Championship, Texas Children’s Houston Open and Valero Texas Open earning spots in the RBC Heritage.
American overnight leader Sam Ryder fired two birdies and four bogeys to card a 2-over 74 and currently lies in a share of third place at 7-under alongside England’s Matt Wallace, whose 67 featured a single bogey, as well as Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune whose 67 remained bogey-free.
Playing in his seventh career Tour start, American amateur Ben James shot a 71 for a share of 13th place at 5-under, becoming just the second amateur to make the cut at the Valero Texas Open since 1983. In 2012 American Jordan Spieth finished T41.
2021 Valero Texas Open champion Spieth carded a 1-over 73 and is T22 at 4-under. After ranking second in Strokes Gained: Putting during the first round (3.224), he was 99th during the second round (-0.869).
Currently T37 at 3-under, American Tony Finau aced the par-3 16th hole with an 8-iron from 199 yards, his third ace on the PGA Tour (2020 World Wide Technology Championship/No. 4/R3, 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii/No. 17/R3). This marks the fourth ace at No. 16 and the eighth overall since the event moved to TPC San Antonio in 2010.
Defending champion Akshay Bhatia of the USA missed the cut by two strokes.
