• Crown Plaza Invitational, Round Two

Davis trails Molder by two shots

Brian Davis followed up his first-round 64 with a five-under 65 © Getty Images

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Bryce Molder shot an eight-under-par 62 to take a one-shot lead over fellow American Jason Bohn after the second round at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Texas.

Molder, who began the day two shots off the pace, carded nine birdies for the lowest round of the tournament so far and a halfway total of 13-under-par.

England's Brian Davis sits two shots behind Molder on 11-under-par. The 35-year-old had medical treatment on an abscess in his right cheek on Thursday evening but showed no signs of it affecting his game as he shot a flawless five-under second-round 65.

"I'm feeling fine and fit to go so no excuses," Davis said. "I played good. I made a couple of good up-and-downs which kept the momentum going. I hit a few bad shots on the back nine but recovered well and I'm delighted to be at 11-under.

"I'm still kind of living off of what happened at the Verizon Heritage but I need to shake that hangover off. I missed a couple of cuts after that and I need to start getting back up there again and that is what I'm trying to do here."

Joint overnight leaders Jeff Overton and Blake Adams both remain in contention going into the weekend. Overton finished on 10-under-par after following up his first-round 63 with a three-under 67, while Adams shot a level-par round of 70 to lie three shots back on seven-under.

United States Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin continued to belie his age as he shot a second-round 64 to head into the third round on nine-under. 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson joins Pavin on the same score after completing a second-round 66.

World No. 2 Phil Mickelson, who won the event in 2008, missed his chance to take over from Tiger Woods at the top of the world rankings as failed to make the cut by six shots. The American's second-round 73 moved him to four-over-par for the tournament and the four-time major champion admits he has plenty of work to do to get his game in shape ahead of next month's US Open at Pebble Beach.

"The course was in great shape and there was no wind and there were a lot of birdies out there - I just played terrible," Mickelson said. "It's a good barometer for me to know starting my US Open run that I have a lot of work to do.

"I wasn't sure how I was going to play. I thought I was playing really well because I had some good practice sessions but as it turns out I am a little rustier than I thought. I'll get home and get some practice in and see if I can get this thing turned around."

Paul Casey lies nine shots off the pace on four-under after shooting a second-round 70, while Justin Rose sits a further shot back. World No. 6 Ian Poulter struggled on the greens but a second-round 69 means he will be around for the weekend after making the cut on the nose.

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