Golf:American Bryce Molder birdied five of the last nine holes to move one stroke clear at the halfway stage of the Colonial Invitational as Phil Mickelson missed his first PGA Tour cut in more than a year.
Two shots off the pace at the start of another hot and humid day at Colonial Country Club, Molder fired a sparkling eight-under-par 62 in pursuit of his first title on the PGA Tour.
The 31-year-old needed only 25 putts on the way to a 13-under total of 127, finishing a stroke in front of compatriot and joint first-round leader Jason Bohn (65).
Molder had a chance to equal the course record of 61 but narrowly missed his birdie attempt from eight feet at the par-four last.
"I thought I was going to make it, it actually felt good," the four-time All-American collegiate player said after shooting his lowest score on the PGA Tour.
"I read it correctly, lined up correctly, felt like I was playing too much break and I kind of just let myself pull it instead of just trusting my line.
"But you certainly get a little bit of excitement when you're shooting a low score," added Molder, whose best Tour finish was a tie for second at last year's St. Jude Championship.
"It's certainly a good position to be in -- one of the last groups on Saturday and have some fun."
England's Brian Davis, who had an abscess removed from his right cheek overnight, also carded a 65 to lie two shots off the lead with American Kris Blanks (64), one ahead of Jeff Overton (67) and Boo Weekley (63).
Defending champion Steve Stricker fired a 67 for a five under total, one stroke better than 2009 Masters winner Angel Cabrera (68) and British world number eight Paul Casey (70).
Twice winner Mickelson, who would have replaced Tiger Woods as world number one by winning this week, had a day to forget as he battled to a 73 to miss the cut by six shots.
"I played terrible," the four-time major champion said after recording five bogeys and two birdies in ideal scoring conditions. "The course is in great shape.
"There was no wind and there were a ton of birdies out there. And I didn't have many of them. I thought my game was sharper."
Mickelson, who clinched his fourth major crown at last month's Masters, had not missed a cut on the PGA Tour since last year's Houston Open, a run of 21 events.
The cut fell at two-under 138 with American world number five Jim Furyk, Ryder Cup player Hunter Mahan and PGA Championship winner Yang Yong-eun of South Korea among those missing out.
Collated second round scores and totals in the US PGA Tour Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Colonial CC, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
(USA unless stated, par 70):
127Bryce Molder 65 62
128Jason Bohn 63 65
129Brian Davis (Eng) 64 65, Kris Blanks 65 64
130Jeff Overton 63 67, Boo Weekley 67 63
131Zach Johnson 65 66, Corey Pavin 67 64, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 65 66, John Mallinger 65 66
132Kenny Perry 68 64, Ricky Barnes 66 66, Ben Crane 68 64, John Merrick 66 66
133Aron Price (Aus) 65 68, Bill Haas 65 68, Bo Van Pelt 67 66, Scott Verplank 67 66, Derek Lamely 67 66, Blake Adams 63 70
134Spencer Levin 65 69, Nick Watney 68 66, Paul Goydos 69 65, Kyle Stanley 68 66, K J Choi (Kor) 67 67, James Nitties (Aus) 68 66
135Brendon De Jonge 69 66, Steve Stricker 68 67, David Toms 68 67, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 70 65, Matthew Jones (Aus) 69 66, John Daly 66 69, Kevin Na 67 68, Nathan Green (Aus) 65 70, Cameron Beckman 67 68
136Michael Sim (Aus) 69 67, John Senden (Aus) 69 67, Michael Bradley 67 69, Lee Janzen 70 66, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 68 68, Graham Delaet (Can) 68 68, Alex Prugh 71 65, Chad Collins 70 66, Mike Weir (Can) 68 68, Tim Petrovic 68 68, Martin Laird (Sco) 69 67, Paul Casey (Eng) 66 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 67 69
137Brian Gay 68 69, J.P. Hayes 67 70, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 70 67, Ben Curtis 70 67, Vijay Singh (Fij) 67 70, Brett Quigley 71 66, Justin Rose (Eng) 67 70, Rickie Fowler 70 67, Jerry Kelly 67 70, Pat Perez 69 68, Lucas Glover 72 65, Stewart Cink 69 68, Jason Day (Aus) 66 71, Charlie Wi (Kor) 68 69, Kevin Stadler 69 68, J J Henry 67 70, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 68 69, Jerod Turner 69 68, Tim Clark (Rsa) 67 70, Brandt Snedeker 71 66
138Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 67 71, Billy Mayfair 69 69, Ian Poulter (Eng) 69 69, Matt Kuchar 69 69, Tom Gillis 69 69, Kevin Sutherland 71 67, Heath Slocum 69 69, Stephen Ames (Can) 68 70
The following players failed to make the cut
139Justin Leonard 67 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 68, Jim Furyk 72 67, Tim Herron 67 72, Ryan Palmer 72 67, Mark Brooks 71 68, Jonathan Byrd 68 71, Webb Simpson 70 69
140Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 70, Chris Stroud 71 69, Woody Austin 67 73, Michael Connell 68 72, Shaun Micheel 70 70, Hunter Mahan 73 67, Chad Campbell 70 70, Steve Marino 68 72, Sean O'Hair 70 70, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 69 71, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 72 68
141Byeong-hun An (Kor) 71 70, David Duval 68 73, Steve Elkington (Aus) 71 70, Kevin Streelman 72 69, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 72 69, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 73 68, Josh Teater 75 66, D.J. Trahan 69 72, Ryan Moore 72 69
142D.A. Points 72 70, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 73 69, Martin Flores 72 70, Scott Piercy 71 71, Chris Couch 71 71, Tom Pernice Jnr. 71 71, Mark Wilson 70 72
143George McNeill 68 75
144Phil Mickelson 71 73, Andres Romero (Arg) 75 69, Davis Love III 71 73, Steve Flesch 73 71, Briny Baird 70 74, Matt Weibring 73 71
145John Rollins 75 70
WD: Jeff Maggert 72