March 31 (Reuters) – American Jeff Maggert birdied three of
his last eight holes to grab a one-shot lead when the
weather-delayed second round of the Houston Open was finally
completed in Humble, Texas on Saturday.
One of 70 players still out on the course when play was
halted in fading light on Friday, Maggert carded a six-under-par
66 to post a 12-under total of 132 at the rain-softened Redstone
Golf Club in the final tune-up event before next week’s Masters.
The 48-year-old American, a three-times winner on the PGA
Tour, briefly got to 13 under with a birdie at the eighth but he
then three-putted to bogey his final hole, the par-three ninth.
Britain’s Brian Davis (65), South African Louis Oosthuizen
(66) and American James Driscoll (66) were tied for second at 11
under with defending champion Phil Mickelson (70) among a group
of six players a further two strokes back.
Maggert was delighted to be at the top of the leaderboard
after missing the cut in his previous five starts on the PGA
Tour.
“The ball-striking has probably been the key,” he told
reporters after carding seven birdies and one bogey. “I’ve been
hitting the ball really well this week, a lot of shots close to
the hole where I’m not having to make 15, 20-footers for birdie.
“The greens are really rolling nice this week. I’ve got
pretty good confidence right now after making quite a few putts
the last two days so I’m looking forward to this afternoon.”
More than an inch of rain saturated the course on Thursday
and tournament organisers allowed the players to lift, clean and
replace their balls in the delayed second round.
Asked how he had managed to regain form after his run of
missed cuts, Maggert replied: “It’s a strange game. I started
the year playing really well… then just had a little stretch
there where I wasn’t hitting it that great.
Continued…
