| San
Antonio, Texas, 25th September 1998
- A three-week vacation is paying off for Justin Leonard. He's rested,
relaxed and tied for the lead of the Texas Open. Leonard
recouped from some bad early shots and made five birdies today on the way to a
second straight 5-under-par 67. His 10-under 134 total matched that of John Maginnes,
a regular on the Nike Tour. Loren
Roberts, Bob Estes, Hal Sutton and Brad Fabel were one stroke behind the leaders
after two rounds. David Frost and Tommy Armour III were another stroke back. Playing
his first tournament since late August, Leonard -- No. 8 on the money list with
$1.27 million -- didn't seem to feel any ill effects from his time away from the
golf course. "It's
one of the first times I've really been able in the middle of the season to put
my clubs down and not worry about it," Leonard said. "It's nice to be
back here playing, especially to come back and play well." The
winner of the $1.7 million tournament, which is sponsored by Westin and played
at LaCantera Golf Club, receives $306,000. Fabel
made his jump with the help of a 64, while Estes had a 67 and Roberts and Sutton
had 68s. Frost got to 136 with a 64, while Armour had a 67. Leonard
began the day in a pack of 10 players two strokes behind first-round leader D.A.
Weibring. Starting on the back nine, Leonard got his first birdie on the par-4
11th when he made a 12-foot putt. The
14th, 15th and 16th holes proved tricky, but Leonard managed to par each hole
then made a birdie from a foot on the par-4 18th. "I
had time to recover," Leonard said of his poor early shots. "It's not
always bad to hit a couple of shots like that during a round because it kind of
woke me up." Leonard
birdied No. 1 by making another 12-footer and wrapped up his bogey-free round
with birdies on the last two holes from 12 and 10 feet, respectively. Maginnes,
playing under a sponsor's exemption, also started the day two strokes behind the
leader and shot a 67. "I'm
pretty encouraged. Somebody's got to win this golf tournament," said Maginnes,
delighting in the prospect of a possible pairing with Leonard this weekend. "It'll
be fun. ... It'll probably take the gallery seven or eight holes to figure out
who I am." Maginnes
also started on the par-5 10th and made a 12-foot putt for his first birdie. He
got four more birdies before the turn. He bogeyed the par-4 No. 2 after hitting
into a bunker, then two-putted from 25 feet on the par-5 5th for a birdie. Another
bogey on No. 6 then a birdie on No. 7 left Maginnes at 5 under for the round.
"I played
as well as I can play. It wasn't an easy one," Maginnes said. Weibring
shot a 74 and was at 139. Eighty
players at 2-under 142 or lower made the cut. Defending champion Tim Herron shot
a 73 and missed by one stroke. U.S.
Amateur champion Hank Kuehne, after blowing his otherwise respectable first round
on the second-to-last hole Thursday, shot an even-par 72 for a 149 total.
| 
