Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre maintained his strong form with a round of 64 for a four-shot halfway lead at the Texas Open in San Antonio.
MacIntyre had four birdies in his last five holes with his playing partner and Ryder Cup team-mate Ludwig Aberg of Sweden his nearest challenger.
Starting on the back nine, the world number 11 put down a marker with an eight-foot eagle putt at the par-five 14th and followed that up with birdies at his next two holes.
The only blemish for the 29-year-old was a bogey at the 17th before he regrouped to finish with a flourish for a confidence boost ahead of the Masters which begins in Augusta on Thursday.
“I’ve been driving the ball nice,” said the Scot. “I’ve got a new driver in the bag. Iron play today was exceptional I would say.
“I hit a pure wedge shot on 17, I thought it was absolutely dynamite there. Approach play, hitting the number, hitting the targets. Got to finish off with good putting. Overall, just really solid.
“I didn’t play here last year, just went straight into Augusta. This was an adjustment for that reason. I wanted to be sharp – or sharper – going into Augusta.”
Aberg had four birdies over his first 14 holes before an eagle at the sixth, but he finished with a bogey.
“For me, golf is about putting yourself in situations where you can win tournaments,” he said.
“I feel like I haven’t really done that very well the last 12 months or so, but starting to see it now, which has been really nice. Starting to get back into that level, which is really nice for me to see. So I’m looking forward to one more shot at it this week.”
Among those one shot back are six-time PGA Tour winner Tony Finau who is chasing a first win since April 2023 and who needs a win to be invited to the Masters.
The 36-year-old American finished his round strongly with an eagle putt at the 18th.
“It was nice to make an eagle on the last,” he said. “I hit a really good drive, pushed my second shot a little, got lucky, covered the water and was able to roll that one in. Sometimes those are the small little breaks that you need to be towards the top of the leaderboard.”