Johnson, Moore in joint Texas Open lead

Former British Open champ Zach Johnson played his way into a share ofthe lead at the halfway stage of the Texas Open, reeling off fourstraight birdies en route to a seven-under 65.The 42-year-old has a history at this event, having won back-to-backtitles in 2008 and 2009, the first two times he competed in it. “I felt really good coming into the week,” said Johnson, who also won the 2007 Masters crown. “I hit solid shots.“I was fixated on keeping the peddle down. I was striking it well. My driver was key. The confidence is there.”Under cloudy, windy conditions in San Antonio on Friday, he rolled insix birdies and an eagle to tie for the lead at nine-under 135 withfellow American Ryan Moore, who fired a five-under 67. They will be inthe final group in Saturday’s third round. They are one stroke ahead ofAndrew Landry and Grayson Murray, who shot 67 and 69, respectively. Ben Crane (66), Martin Laird of Scotland (65) and Canada’s David Hearn(68) are tied for fifth at six-under, three shots adrift of the leaders.Both Johnson’s win here came on a different course, LaCantera Golf Club, but the TPC San Antonio suits him just fine. He is one of just four winners in tournament history, dating to 1922, tosuccessfully defend the title, joining Bill Mehlhorn 1928-29, ArnoldPalmer 1960-62 and Justin Leonard 2000-01.The 2015 British Open winner holed out of a greenside bunker at thefifth hole for an eagle-two, his second eagle of the week. On thepar-four 15th he hit his 173-yard approach to 15 feet then sank the puttfor his fourth straight birdie.Johnson has made the cut in all 12 starts this season as he aims for his 13th win on the USPGA Tour.He said if there is more wind in Saturday’s round it is not going to throw him off.“I am not afraid of the wind,” Johnson said. “I played well and relishedin the wind - what do you call it The Open Championship or some ofthose other tournaments I played in. It doesn’t matter. It is hard foreverybody if there is wind.”Moore shot his second straight bogey free round on Friday after posting a68 on Thursday. “My distance control has been great and really myball-striking has been really nice the last few weeks,” Moore said. “Theputter just kind of hasn’t been co-operating.”Except on the sixth and 17th holes when he rolled in birdie putts from more than 14 feet.Leading scores second round 135-Zach Johnson 70-65, Ryan Moore 68-67 136-Andrew Landry 69-67, Grayson Murray 67-69 138-Ben Crane 72-66, David Hearn (CAN) 70-68, Martin Laird (SCO) 73-65 139-Chesson Hadley 68-71, Denny McCarthy 72-67, Chris Kirk 73-66, Billy Horschel 68-71, Keegan Bradley 68-71 140-Jimmy Walker 71-69, Vaughn Taylor 72-68, Brian Stuard 71-69, Richy Werenski 72-68, Beau Hossler 71-69.Thailand’s Moriya leads at halfway stage of LA OpenThailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn, who is seeking her first win on the USLPGA Tour, fired a bogey-free five-under 66 to take aone stroke lead after the second round of the LA Open. Moriya startedquickly on the back nine on Friday with two birdies in her first fourholes of the round at the Wilshire Country Club course to reach a totalof eight-under 134.“I just tried to hit fairways and greens. That’s the key for this week.That’s what I try to do,” the former LPGA rookie of the year Moriyasaid. American Marina Alex is alone in second after shooting a 68 for aseven-under total while two time major winner Ryu So-yeon is in the hunttwo shots back of Moriya after a 65.Seven time major champion Park In-bee is tied for fourth with South Korean compatriot Ji Eun-hee at five-under 137. Ko Jin-young shot a 67 and is alone in sixth as five of the top sixplayers are from South Korea to the delight of the galleries this weekbecause Los Angeles is home to a huge South Korean expat community.Moriya, who also has a sister Ariya on the Tour, rocketed to the top ofthe leaderboard with a burst of three straight birdies on her back nine.This is just the second time in her career Moriya has held the 36-holelead. The first was last season at the Evian Championship, where shefinished just one stroke away from making a playoff between AnnaNordqvist and Brittany Altomare.Last week’s tournament champ Brooke Henderson of Canada stumbled to aneight-over 79 and missed the cut along with former major champions AnnaNordqvist, Stacy Lewis and Juli Inkster.