Armour vaults into lead with 62

Tommy Armour III capped a 62 with a birdie on the 18th hole Friday and held a one-stroke lead over Dan Forsman, who hit three tee shots on his final hole, after the second round of the Valero Texas Open.

Armour's 14-under 126 on the La Cantera Golf Club course was the lowest two-round score on the PGA Tour this year.

"You know, what can you say? It's going where I'm aiming," said Armour, whose best finish this year was a tie for 11 in this month's Bell Canadian Open. "The course is in great shape, the greens are perfect. ... It's a birdiefest."

Forsman had a 63 Friday and was one shot in front of Tim Clark (63). K.J. Choi (62), Tom Lehman (63), Hal Sutton (63), Paul Goydos (64) and Charles Howell III (64) were all at 129.

Forsman, who started the day on the back nine, was tied with Armour at 14 under after 17 holes when his round nearly imploded on the 380-yard, par-4 ninth.

He hit his drive far to the left, where it landed among the cactus and mesquite trees.

Thinking the ball was out of bounds, he hit a provisional that landed in the fairway. But it turned out the first drive was still in bounds but unplayable, so under tour rules he had to return to the tee and hit yet again.

His third drive on the hole also went left and ended up half-buried 141 yards out.

"I could only see the top portion of the ball, so it was a really difficult lie," Forsman said. "I was looking at 7 (on the hole)."

His fortunes improved when he knocked his next shot within 17 feet, and then one-putted for a bogey.

"I'm a little disappointed, but it is miraculous what happened on the last hole, making a bogey," Forsman said.

Bob Tway, a co-leader after the first round, shot a 69 Friday to join defending champion Loren Roberts (66) and Cameron Beckman (67) at 130.

Heath Slocum, who shared the first-round lead with Tway, shot a 70 and was in a group of six at 131.

Those out early -- among them Tway, Slocum and Roberts -- had to contend with some morning rain, but that weather gave way to an afternoon that was dry, not too hot and with scarcely any wind for a second straight day.

The top eight players on the leaderboard all had afternoon tee times.

"It was easy to make putts," said Clark, who was third in last month's PGA Championship. "I half expected (the greens) just to be a little more bumpy today, but they were great again."

Roberts, who shot a 64 Thursday, strung together four straight birdies beginning with the 444-yard, par-4 fourth to get to 10 under at the turn. He bogeyed 11, but retrieved the stroke with a birdie on the par-3 17th by hitting a 5-iron within 4 feet.

He said the effects of rain and lack of wind combined to allow bold play.

"Today you could really play aggressively, even though it played a little longer," he said. "Even if you hit one or two clubs more into it, you could still hit it right to the hole because the greens were pretty soft."

Tway followed Thursday's course record-tying 61, featuring 10 birdies, with the three-birdie 69. He said there wasn't much difference in how he played the rounds.

"It's a fine line between really good and just OK," he said. "(Today) I didn't have the luxury of those tap-ins we all love."

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