Huston & Johnson share lead into weekend

John Huston shot an eight-under-par 63 late in the day to join Sweden's Richard Johnson in a tie for the second-round lead at the $4.6 million FedEx St. Jude Classic on Friday.

Huston and Johnson (66) stand on 12-under-par 130 at the TPC at Southwinds for a one-shot advantage over David Peoples, who went round in 66.

Three shots off the lead are another Swede Fredrik Jacobson (67) and David Gossett (67) at nine-under-par.

Former winner Jay Haas (70) is tied with Lee Janzen (66) and Kirk Triplett (67) on eight-under 134, one ahead of David Toms (67), Pat Bates (67) and Chris Riley (66).

Huston, 42, who last won in 2000, eagled the par-five third to get into red numbers for the round and went out in four-under 32.

He added birdies at the 11th, 13th, 16th and difficult 18th in testing late afternoon winds.

"I played extremely well," he said. "I drove the ball really well, so I gave myself a lot of good chances."

A six-time PGA Tour winner, Huston has developed a reputation over the years for his ability to take his scores low when in contention.

In 1998, his 28-under to win the Hawaiian Open was the 72-hole PGA Tour scoring record.

In 1996, he shot a Muirfield Village Golf Club course-record 61 and in 1994, he shot a final-round 62 to win the Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic.

"The last few years when I've had low rounds it's been more a case of hitting my short irons and wedges close to the hole," he said. "I probably didn't putt quite as well as I used to, but it was a really good, solid round today.

Johnson, 26, tidied up his first round on Friday morning, playing the final seven holes in three-under to finish with a seven-under 64.

Later, Johnson was one-under through 14 holes of his second round before going birdie-eagle-birdie on holes 15 through 17 to move into first place.

"I just tried to stay patient and I knew if I could get through that par-three (14th hole) on the back that I'd have some good chances on 15 and 16," he said.

"That birdie at 17 was a bonus. I just hit it close the last three holes and I've been putting out well, so it wasn't really that hard."

With Peoples in the clubhouse at 11-under, Johnson was on the fairway at the 528-yard par-five 16th with 246 yards to the hole.

He hit his three-wood second shot to within six feet and made the eagle putt to tie Peoples.

At the par-four 17th, Johnson's four-iron approach rolled to within eight feet and he made birdie for the lead.

Johnson, who played three full seasons on the European PGA Tour and won the 2002 ANZ Championship prior to finishing 11th at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, has made just seven cuts in 13 starts this season.

His best finish is a tie for 40th at the Byron Nelson Championship.

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