Valero Texas Open Round 2: Brian Harman Goes Back-to-Back 66s for a Four-Shot Cushion

Brian Harman spent most of the last year and a half answering questions about what happened after Hoylake. On Friday in San Antonio he gave a pretty good answer with his irons.

Harman shot 6-under 66 at TPC San Antonio's Oaks Course to reach 12-under 132 and take a four-shot lead over Keith Mitchell at the halfway point of the Valero Texas Open. Mitchell (72) sits alone in second at 8 under. First-round leader Sam Ryder (74), Matt Wallace (67) and Ryo Hisatsune (67) are tied for third at 7 under.

Close Range, All Day

The striking thing about Harman's round was how little he needed the putter to do anything heroic. He made eight birdies, and not one of them came from outside 12 feet, per the AP. That is what it looks like when the approach game is doing the heavy lifting, and the numbers back it up: through 36 holes he leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (6.540) and Approach (5.064), according to the tournament's notes.

Back-to-back 66s are also a personal landmark here. Thursday's opener was already his lowest score in 25 career rounds at this event, and he matched it a day later.

The four-shot cushion ties the largest 36-hole lead on the PGA TOUR this season, and it is one shot shy of the biggest halfway lead at this tournament since it moved to TPC San Antonio in 2010. It is Harman's first 36-hole lead since Bay Hill in 2024, and his largest at the midway point since he led by five at Hoylake in 2023, the week he won The Open.

"Just know that I've done it before and that it is possible," Harman said of sitting on a big lead.

He was not getting ahead of himself, either. "Look, man, it's just left foot, right foot and just take your time getting finished," he said.

Mitchell Holds the Line

Mitchell's 72 was not a disaster so much as a reminder of how hard it is to follow a 64. He made a bogey out of a bunker on the par-3 7th, picked up a pair of 12-foot birdies, and closed with two pars, the last one on the 9th keeping him in Saturday's final pairing.

"I wish I was closer to Brian than I am, but glad to make par on 9 so I could stay in the last group," Mitchell said.

The stakes have not changed for him. Mitchell is not in the Masters field, and only a win this week changes that. "Thankfully, I played great yesterday and have two more rounds," he said.

Ryder Hangs On

On Thursday, Ryder needed 21 putts and wondered whether his neck would let him play. On Friday, the neck and a sore back had a say, and the 63 turned into a 74, 11 shots worse.

"I could sit here and make excuses, but I just didn't play well," Ryder said, per ESPN. "It's definitely my neck, back is kind of bothering me a little bit, but it's just tough with the quick turnaround."

Here is the thing, though. He is still tied for third, five shots back, with a Masters invitation on the line if he can turn it around. "All in all, if you told me I was going to be in this position going into Saturday, then I would have taken it on Thursday," he said.

Wallace and Hisatsune made the cleanest moves into the mix, each posting 67 to jump into that tie for third.

The Ace and the Escape

The shot of the day belonged to a player who was simply trying to stick around. Tony Finau was one stroke on the wrong side of the cut line when he stepped onto the 16th tee and made a hole-in-one. He parred in, shot 72, and made the weekend with one shot to spare.

"I needed something to go my way," Finau said. "I was leaking oil kind of coming in and really shooting myself in the foot on a chance to play the weekend. So it was a huge shot at the right moment."

Rickie Fowler went the other direction, from danger to relevance, following his opening 75 with a 65 to get to 4 under, eight back. Like Mitchell, Fowler needs a win to get to Augusta.

Big Names Go Home

The cut fell at 2-under 142, with 65 professionals and one amateur advancing. Two of the biggest names in the field were not among them. Ludvig Åberg, the highest-ranked player at the event at No. 5 in the world, missed the cut, and so did defending champion Akshay Bhatia.

Jordan Spieth stayed for the weekend but gave back ground late. After his opening 67, he bogeyed his final three holes, with a few chips fooling him coming in, for a 73 that left him at 4 under, eight behind. It is his last start before the Masters, so the weekend doubles as a tune-up.

Saturday's Test

A four-shot lead after 36 holes is a lovely thing to sleep on, but it is not a trophy, and Harman knows the TPC San Antonio wind can turn a cushion into a scramble quickly. The chasers have real motivation. Mitchell, Ryder and Fowler all have Masters invitations riding on this week, and Wallace and Hisatsune are within five.

What we know after Friday: Harman has the lead, the approach numbers and the experience of closing out a big one. Saturday will tell us whether anyone can make him use them.

Catch up on Thursday in our Round 1 recap. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 2 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 2 recap and leaderboard), AP, ESPN, Golf Channel, Valero Texas Open round notes. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.