Notebook: Round 2, Shell Houston Open

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Weather: Cloudy and breezy with a high of 78. S/SE winds at 18-25 mph with gusts up to 30 mph in the afternoon.

Eighty players made the cut at 2-over 146. Because more than 78 players made the 36-hole cut, there will be a secondary cut after 54 holes to the low 70 and ties.

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Leaderboard: Round 2
Live Report: Round 2

Because of a scheduled 4:00 p.m. local time finish, players will tee off split tees in threesomes between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Bryce Molder chipped in for birdie on the par-4 15th, which he followed with a 33-foot birdie putt at the par-4 17th on his way to a bogey-free, 6-under 66 to take a one-shot lead at 9-under.

Molder has previously held at least a share of a lead twice. He was T1 after Round 1 of the 2002 Verizon Byron Nelson Classic and T1 earlier this year after Round 2 of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Neither resulted in victory.

Molder, who was a member of the PGA TOUR in 2002, 2007 and 2009, finished 63rd on last year's money list to earn his exempt status in 2010. He has played in eight events this year leading up to this week, highlighted by three consecutive top-10 finishes. First, he finished T10 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, T8 in his next start at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and then T7 at the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular.

Bryce Molder's only other start at the Shell Houston Open was a missed cut in 2007.

While Molder hit nine of 14 fairways in regulation during the first round, he was more accurate into greens on Friday, hitting 14 of 18 in regulation.

The second-round leader on the PGA TOUR has held on for victory four times in stroke-play events this year. Since 1990, the second-round leader of the Shell Houston Open has gone on to win seven times. The most recent example is Paul Casey in 2009.

Monday morning of this week, PGA TOUR rookie Cameron Percy was on the tee and about to tee off at Cypress Woods in a bid to Monday Qualify for the 2010 Shell Houston Open. Just before sticking his tee into the ground, he was offered the final sponsor's invite, after Edoardo Molinari made the last-minute decision to skip the event.

Australian Percy followed his opening-round, 5-under 67 with a 3-under 69 to get to 8 under with Alex Prugh. The two 2009 Nationwide Tour graduates trail Molder's lead by a stroke. Of Percy's previous seven starts in 2010, this marks the first time he has managed to string together back-to-back rounds in the 60s.

Percy is making his first appearance at the Shell Houston Open, his eighth start this year and just his ninth career start on TOUR (MC/2003 British Open). Percy graduated to the PGA TOUR by finishing in "The 25" (No. 8) on the 2009 Nationwide Tour money list.

Percy's career-best finish is T46 at the 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Percy was the last player to play with Tiger Woods in a tournament round. The pair played together in the final round of the 2009 JBWere Australian Masters, won by Woods. Percy finished T6.

Percy should feel confident here this week as four winners since 1999 have hailed from Australia. Also, eight of the last 11 winners here have been international.

Coming off three straight missed cuts, rookie Prugh righted the ship with eight birdies on his way to a 6-under 66. For the second day in a row, he made birdies on Nos. 4, 6, 7 and 8.

Like Molder, Prugh claimed three consecutive top-10 finishes early in the year, and has made six cuts in nine starts. He is currently ranked No. 33 in FedExCup standings.

Prior to this year, Prugh's only other PGA TOUR start was as an amateur at the 2007 U.S. Open, where he missed the cut. Prugh earned his way onto the PGA TOUR in 2010 by virtue of a 16th-place finish on the 2009 Nationwide Tour.

Joe Ogilvie birdied the 18th hole, this week's Kodak Challenge hole, to put himself in contention with a 5-under 67 to get to 7 under for the tournament. He began the day at 2 under, three strokes off Percy and Kevin Stadler's 5-under lead. Rickie Fowler, who currently leads the Kodak challenge, also birdied the par-4 18th.

Ogilvie's 5-under 67 in round two matches his lowest round in 29 previous rounds here. He shot a 67 in round two in 2005 en route to sixth-place honors, his best finish in nine previous starts.

Ogilvie is making his 11th start of 2010, with a best finish of T8 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

England's Lee Westwood made forward progress in round two with seven birdies en route to a 4-under 68 to get to 7-under.

Westwood, who won the European Tour's first Race to Dubai in 2009 (formerly Order of Merit), is making just his fourth PGA TOUR start in 2010. His best finish of the three was a T9 at the Honda Classic. He has made five starts this year on the European Tour. Among them, a T3 at the Commerce Bank Qatar Masters and a runner-up finish a week later at the Dubai Desert Classic.

Westwood is competing here a week before the Masters. Interestingly, his lone PGA TOUR victory came at the 1998 Zurich Classic of New Orleans (then, the Freeport-McDermott Classic). That win came a week before the Masters.

Westwood is making his fourth start at the Shell Houston Open. Prior to last year's T11 finish at Redstone, he finished T56 in 2007 and T49 in 2004.

After finishing second to Camilo Villegas at the Honda Classic last month, Anthony Kim fired a second, consecutive sub-70 round with a 3-under 69 in round two to put himself in good position for the weekend.

Phil Mickelson (69-76) was seemingly on cruise-control in round two, making the turn at 4-under for the tournament with eight pars and a birdie. Disaster struck at the 10th when the left-hander hit his tee shot into a hazard right of the fairway. Mickelson turned his wedge upside down and attempted to hit his next shot from the hazard. His ball shot out and hit him on the lower leg (one-stroke penalty) before bouncing back into the hazard, at the same time dislodging another ball which ended up on the cart path. Mickelson took a drop from the hazard (one-stroke penalty) before playing his fifth shot onto the green and two-putting for a triple-bogey seven.

Lucas Glover aced the 199-yard 16th hole at Redstone GC's Tournament Course in the second round of the Shell Houston Open. It is the first ace in the tournament since 2005 and the first on the Redstone Tournament Course. Glover used a 6-iron for the third hole-in-one of his career (2004/Cialis Western Open, 2006/Mercedes Benz Championship).

Woody Austin scored his second career ace (2000 John Deere Classic) at the 145-yard 7th hole, using an 8-iron, to record the second ace of the round. Austin's tee shot hit the flag, which was blowing in the breeze, before dropping behind the hole and spinning back in. With the ace, Austin added a 1 to the 2, 3, 4s, 5s and 6 he had already recorded on his card in round two. The last player on TOUR with a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on his scorecard was Thomas Levet in the final round of the 2009 British Open.

There were 29 players in the Shell Houston Open field this week also in The Masters Tournament next week. Of those, 21 made the 36-hole cut, led by Anthony Kim and Lee Westwood at T4. Players who failed to make the weekend are Luke Donald, Martin Kaymer, Hunter Mahan, Rory McIlroy, Geoff Ogilvy, Ryan Palmer, Vijay Singh (WD) and Chris Wood.

Briny Baird withdrew before his second round with a neck injury.