Golf Roundup : Texas Open Leader Is Up by 4, and His Name Is Mudd

Jodie Mudd, seeking his first PGA victory after two second-place finishes this year, shot a five-under-par 65 Friday to take a four-stroke lead after two rounds of the $350,000 Texas Open golf tournament at San Antonio. Mudd’s two-day total was an 11-under-par 129.

Tony Sills, whose 63 was the lowest round of the day, was tied with Mark Hayes for second place at 133. Steve Jones was at 134.

First-round leader Mike Gove, who shot a 63 on the Oak Hills Country Club course Thursday, ballooned to a 78 for a 141.

Defending champion Calvin Peete missed the cut with a 145 after shooting a 75.

Peete, winner of this year’s Phoenix Open and Tournament Players Championship, had good company. Other 1985 tournament winners who missed the cut were Bob Eastwood, Mark Wiebe and Dan Forsman.

“If I can continue to strike the golf ball the way I did the past two days, I have a pretty good chance here,” Mudd said. “I’ve worked hard this year and I’ve made a few changes in my golf swing, and that opens up a lot of doors out here.”

Mudd pulled away with an eagle on the eighth hole, hitting a wedge from 110 yards out. He said he was replacing a divot and did not know the ball went into the cup until the crowd cheered.

“I’ve been playing good for about a month now. I’m thinking good on the golf course and striking the ball well,” said Mudd, 25, who this year, his fourth year on the PGA Tour, has earned $132,923.

“You can’t anticipate what’s going to happen on the weekend. But if things keep going my way, I’ve got a real good chance of winning,” he said.

Mudd started play from the 10th tee in what he called “ideal playing conditions” and chipped in from off the green on the 18th to reach the turn in 34, one under par.

He chipped close for a tap-in birdie-four on the fifth, made a 10-foot putt for a birdie on the sixth and then capped his effort with his wedge shot that hit the front of the green and trickled into the cup for a two on the eighth.

At Wentworth, England, West Germany’s Bernhard Langer overcame a lingering cold on a sunny day to reach the semifinals of the $240,000 Suntory World Matchplay championship.

The U.S. Masters champion beat Japan’s Tommy Nakajima, 5 and 3, in his quarterfinal match and will play South African Denis Watson today. Watson beat reigning British Open champion Sandy Lyle of Britain, 2 and 1, having trailed until the 28th hole.

Defending champion Severiano Ballesteros of Spain recovered from a one-hole halfway deficit and some wayward driving in the afternoon session to clinch a semifinal berth with a 2-and-1 victory over Welshman Ian Woosnam.

Ballesteros, who has won the title four times in nine consecutive appearances, faces U.S. Open champion Andy North, who defeated Dallas-based Australian David Graham, 3 and 1.