Bryce Molder leads Houston Open

Associated Press

HUMBLE, TEXAS

Bryce Molder birdied four of the last seven holes for a 6-under 66 and a one-stroke lead Friday in the Houston Open, the final event before the Masters next week at Augusta National.

Molder had a 9-under 135 total on Redstone’s Tournament Course.

First-round co-leader Cameron Percy (69) and fellow PGA Tour rookie Alex Prugh (66) were tied for second, and Lee Westwood (68), Anthony Kim (69), Joe Ogilvie (67) and Kevin Stadler (70) were 7 under after another windy day.

Ernie Els, Fred Couples and Phil Mickelson made the cut, but were far off the pace after failing to break par in the second round. Els (74) and Couples (73) were even par, and Mickelson (76) was 1 over.

Els is trying to win his third straight start and the 50-year-old Couples has three consecutive wins on the Champions Tour.

Several big names came to Houston to tune up for the Masters. Organizers have tried to simulate course conditions that players will see at Augusta National.

Lucas Glover’s second-round 68 included the first hole-in-one in the course’s five-year tour history. Glover used a 6-iron on the 199-yard 16th hole for the first ace in the Houston Open since 2005. He was 3 under.