Coles & Quigley lead at halfway

Australia's Gavin Coles and American Brett Quigley moved into a share of the lead at the Houston Open on Friday, with defending champion Vijay Singh and John Daly lurking one stroke back after the second round.

Despite being one of the smallest players on the PGA Tour, Coles turned in a big effort at the Redstone Golf Club to card a three-under 69 and climb to the top of the leaderboard on 10-under-par 134 alongside Quigley, who recorded a second straight 67.

"You've got to take the good with the bad," said Coles, who birdied three of the last five holes, including a chip-in at the last.

"You're going to get some breaks," he added.

"I haven't hit a good chip all week and then I chip one in on 18. That's a bit of a turn around.

"We play all different types of courses and you just never know which is your week.

"When it's your week you've got to ride it while you can."

The 7,508-yard Redstone layout and its wide open fairways hold mouth-watering appeal for the tour's heavy hitters and Daly took full advantage, mixing seven birdies with a pair of bogeys to reach nine-under 135 through 36 holes.

"I love this golf course," Daly said. "I know I can hit a driver, and a lot of the holes out here, more than 90 percent of them, set up for me.

"Going into it, whether you're playing real good golf or not, at least you'll get some confidence on a course you feel like you should play well at, and that's kind of the way I feel on this one."

Singh, who had held the overnight lead after equalling the course record with an opening round eight-under 64, was unable to build on his momentum and had to settle for a one-under 71 that included nine consecutive pars to finish the round.

"I hung in there," the world number two said.

"It was one of those days that could have gone either way, and I just stayed very steady.

"One shot, two shots, on the weekend it's really nothing. I have to keep my head out there and play steady golf like I did yesterday and see what happens.

"I'm not worried about anybody but myself. If I play like today, then my chances are not going to be really good.

"If I play like yesterday, then definitely I have a very good chance of winning. I'm playing well, feel good about my golf. I'm not struggling. It's one of those days.

"You can't go out and shoot 64 every day."

Joining Singh and Daly at nine-under are Americans Joe Ogilvie and Jeff Maggert, a three-time runner-up in Houston.

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