Brendan Steele leads Texas Open by three strokes

Brendan Steele extended his lead to three shots at the halfway stage of the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.

Steele reached 10 under par after 36 holes at the Oaks Course, although his second round 70 could have been a lot better and his lead even more significant.

He opened the tournament on Thursday by birdieing eight of his first 13 holes but, with weather having delayed play, had to return on Friday morning to complete his round of 64.

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Steele added to his lead early in his second round with birdies at the second, third and fourth but he could not quite hold on to his momentum and he dropped a stroke at the fifth.

That pattern continued for the rest of the round, a birdie at eight followed by a bogey at nine, and then a double bogey at the 16th coming after he had picked up another stroke at the previous hole.

However Steele did finish with a smile on his face after carding his sixth birdie of the round at the closing hole.

Three players are sharing second place on seven under, among them Australian veteran Stuart Appleby who bounced back from an ugly triple-bogey at the 10th, his first hole of the second round.

Appleby evoked memories of one of the sport's greatest players when he four-putted from close range, but he was able to bounce back with four birdies on his back-nine to card a round of 70, and able to smile afterwards.

"When Seve [Ballesteros] had a four-putt many, many years ago, they asked him 'Seve, how did you have a four-putt,'" Appleby said.

"(Seve replied) 'I miss, I miss, I miss, I make'. I think that's how it was. I was swatting at it. There was a golf ball in the way."

Charley Hoffman looked like being Steele's biggest challenger for much of the second round, and he was within a shot when he eagled the par-five second hole, his 11th of the day.

But two late bogeys meant the American settling for a round of 71, leaving him on the same score as Appleby and Scott Langley, who made ground on Friday with a four-under 67.

Seven players are a stroke further back on six under, including Patrick Reed who rallied well to reach that score after dropping four shots in the first four holes of his second round.

Luke Donald continued his recent resurgence to head the European challenge, with the former world No 1 on five under after a round of 70.