Late eagle keeps Pádraig in the hunt at Houston Open

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON produced a mixed second round at the Shell Houston Open in Texas, but his three-under-par 69 ensured he remains in the hunt for victory.

The Dubliner, had looked set to move into a handy lead at the top of the leaderboard as, starting from the 10th, he recorded birdies at the 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th and 17th.

Harrington’s only dropped shot on his opening nine holes had been at the 14th, but things took a turn for the worse as he ran up a hat-trick of bogeys from the second to drop back to just one under for the day.

However, an eagle at the par-five eighth moved him to seven under for the tournament to leave him well inside the top 10.

Defending champion Anthony Kim had taken the clubhouse lead after a wild round of 64.

Despite the impressive score, the American spent most of his round having to recover from inaccurate tee shots, conjuring two superb shots from fairway bunkers to record birdies.

The 2008 Ryder Cup star ended up with eight birdies and remarkably no dropped shots as he moved to eight under, where he was joined by Johnson Wagner (67) with a handful of the leading contenders still to play.

Overnight leader Jimmy Walker could not repeat the magic of his opening course-record equalling 63, a double bogey on the 11th leaving him two over on the day and part of the group at seven under.

Defending Masters champion Phil Mickelson and last year’s runner-up Lee Westwood continued their preparations for Augusta with rounds of 70 and 72 respectively to leave them both at four under par.

Meanwhile, Rhys Davies carded a second round of 70 to share the halfway lead with Joost Luiten at the Trophee Hassan II in Agadir as he looks to defend the title he claimed last year.

High winds affected performances in Morocco, where the field have been split over the Golf De L’Ocean and Golf Du Palais Royal courses in a pro-am format for the first two days.

Luiten was inconsistent with a round that included two double bogeys and a bogey on the front nine.

However, the Dutchman also produced seven birdies for a 69 to join Davies on six under.

“I was good on the back nine with four birdies so that kept me going,” he said. “It was tough today, really tough, especially on the front nine. The holes coming into the wind are very tricky.”

Mikko Ilonen carded eight birdies in a flawless 64 to move into a nine-way tie for third. The group included Darren Clarke, who had another consistent round that included four birdies and one bogey for a 69, and English pair David Horsey (71) and Robert Rock (68).

Peter Lawrie held a three-stroke overnight lead after an opening 64, but the Irishman slumped to a 76 yesterday. Sicilian Open winner Raphael Jacquelin also had a woeful day, carding a 77.