Wagner storms to lead in Texas

Johnson Wagner tamed strong winds to surge to a two-shot lead after the opening round of at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Texas.

Wagner, back in the state where he posted his maiden PGA Tour victory at the Houston Open nearly two months ago, recovered from two mid-round bogeys to post a stellar seven-under-par 63 at Colonial Country Club.

That was good enough for a two-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson and Brett Wetterich.

‘I love playing here,’ Johnson said, referring to Texas. ‘I'm from Amarillo, so it's always nice to come home.

‘I just it it in the fairway a lot, hit a lot of greens, had a lot of good looks at birdie and mistakes were minimal.’

Wagner charged to four-under after seven holes, but two quick bogeys stalled his momentum.

His first blemish was at the par-three eighth, where he where he three-putted, while he also dropped a shot at the par-four 10th after misjudging his approach shot in the gusty winds.

But he roared back with birdies at the next three holes and picked up further strokes at numbers 15 and 18, rolling in a 12-footer at the last to increase his lead.

Wagner is a fan of the late Ben Hogan, who won here five times on a course that is still known as 'Hogan's Alley'.

‘I have always been a fan of Ben Hogan,’ Wagner said. ‘I don't know how accurate it is but some people say my swing resembles his a little bit at the top.’

Wagner's return to form comes after a disappointing performance two weeks ago at the Players Championship, where he tied for 54th.

He recently has been working on hitting a fade, but it has been such a struggle, he has gone back to the basics, hitting a draw as his stock shot.

‘I was struggling because I could not find my draw, which was my bread and butter,’ he continued.

Mickelson, easily the tournament's biggest draw, failed to attend a post-round press conference.

But in a brief interview after his round, he said: ‘The strength of the wind made it challenging, but also the inconsistency of it.

‘It wasn't blowing consistently, and that made it difficult, because it was tough to judge. I almost knocked it into the water on 13 and my playing partner who hit the same club hit it over.’