Despite a day of sub-par ballstriking by his standards, Steven Bowditch finished his round tied for the lead at the Valero Texas Open. He reflected on his play with Fred Albers from SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.

In the opening round of the Valero Texas Open, Steven Bowditch chips over a bunker in the center of the green on the par-3 16th hole.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- When he finished, Steven Bowditch was projected inside the all-important top 125 on the money list.

About a half hour later, the Aussie was back on the outside looking in -- but at least he'd moved in the right direction. Bowditch, who is tied for 10th at 10 under after a 68, started the week at No. 135 and has improved six spots.

Sunday could be a big day for him -- for a variety of reasons. Bowditch, who only has one top-10 in his PGA TOUR career, has a chance to win for the first time as well as play his way into the top 125.

"I just got to go out and play golf," Bowditch said simply. "That's all I can do. Just try and make putts, hit greens and ... whatever happens, happens."

We’re well into the afternoon wave at The Old White TPC, and no one has been able to catch Trevor Immelman, who leads after a 6-under 64.

Brendon de Jonge has a chance to at 4 under through 12 holes, but he’s been stuck on that number for about an hour.

Meanwhile, Kenny Perry, Gary Woodland, Ryuji Imada and Kyle Stanley are all sitting another stroke back at 3 under.

Speaking of Woodland and Stanley, they, along with J.B. Holmes and Steven Bowditch, are among the four players in the field this week with the best driving distance average.

Coincidence that three of those four are near the top of the leaderboard? Probably not, especially since 200 yards was added to the course for this year’s tournament. And the only one of that group who didn’t play well Thursday was Holmes, who shot 76.

Steven Bowditch's final round may be an indication of what's to expect this afternoon from the leaders.

Bowditch birdied the par-5 last at Annandale to shoot 62, climbing more than 50 spots on the leaderboard. He is currently tied for ninth.

The Aussie entered the event 130th in FedExCup standings, and a high finish would go a long way toward securing a spot in the all-important top 125.

Bowditch first qualified for the TOUR in 2006 but battled a bout of serious depression that derailed his game. In that year, he played in 22 events but only made two cuts. He made it back to the TOUR this year after finishing in the top 25 of last year's Nationwide Tour money list.

This year, Bowditch has made the cut in 11 of 19 events, including a top-10 finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Colonial is generally regarded as favoring the shorter, accurate hitter than the big bomber. But Steven Bowditch, one of the PGA TOUR's longer drivers, is having no problems scoring well on a course he's never played before.

The Australian posted a 6-under 64 in Friday's second round of the Crowne Plaze Invitational at Colonial, and is 9 under through 36 holes, which left him near the top of the leaderboard. His 64 tied for the lowest shot by any player in Friday's morning wave; past Colonial champion Rory Sabbatini and Lucas Glover also posted 64s on Friday.

Bowditch ranks fifth on the PGA TOUR in driving distance this year, and 168th in driving accuracy at 52.66 percent. His accuracy hasn't been that much better through the first two rounds -- he's at 57 percent, having hit 16 of 28 fairways -- but his putting stroke has allowed him to minimize his mistakes.

He's rolled in five putts outside 15 feet, including three on Friday. His birdie putt at the sixth was for 29 feet, and two holes later, he poured in a putt from outside 21 feet. He also birdied the 14th with an 18-footer.

"Personally I don't think I really felt like I played as good as I did yesterday tee to green," Bowditch said. "But I just made some putts. That's basically what it comes down to. ... I didn't play that well, but it was nice to make some putts."

Bowditch lives in the Dallas area since moving from Australia to the United States in 2005. But he has never played Colonial. He did walk the course a couple of years with his current swing coach, Scott Hamilton.

"That's the closest I've been until Monday," Bowditch said.

Being unfamiliar with the course hasn't phased him, though. Neither is he worried about Colonial favoring shorter hitters, either. He's still pulling out driver whenever it's called for.

"If you hit it straight, it doesn't matter how far you hit it," he said. "That's basically what it comes down to. I am taking a lot of drivers. My Cleveland has been really good to me the last few months. It's perfect. I'm confident with it. There is not much more I can do. Aim and hit."

Last year on the Nationwide Tour, Bowditch won the Soboba Golf Classic and finished the year 17th on the money list to earn his TOUR card for the first time since 2006.

In his third start of this year, he shot three consecutive 69s in the last three rounds to finish tied for 9th at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. That's his best result to date, although he did finish inside the top 30 in his last start, the Wells Fargo Championship.

Even though he's been grinding for awhile -- he turned pro when he was 18; he's now 27 -- he thinks his best years are ahead of him.

"It's just a process," he said. "You learn, you make mistakes. I'm not even 28 yet. So it's not that big a deal.  The career hasn't really started."

Click here to replay Bowditch’s round on ShotTracker

Click here to watch Bowditch’s post-round interview with the PGA TOUR Network

Last year, Steven Bowditch won the Nationwide Tour’s Soboba Classic and finished 17th on that tour’s money list to earn his TOUR card for this year.

Fast forward to Friday at Colonial, where he’s in the lead at 10 under after playing his first 14 holes in 7 under here in the second round.

Bowditch has also now gone 26 holes without a bogey. More importantly, he’s made seven birdies so far today.

To follow the rest of Bowditch’s round live with Shot Tracker click here .

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Rory Sabbatini, who won here four years ago, is among the hottest players who teed off in the morning wave of Friday's second round at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Sabbatini is 5 under through his first 12 holes, moving him to 7 under for the tournament. That's just one stroke off the lead shared by David Toms and Chez Reavie, who each shot 8-under 62 on Thursday. Toms is scheduled to tee off at 1:24 p.m. ET, and Reavie will tee off at 1:46 p.m. ET today.

Sabbatini had a stretch of four consecutive birdies starting at the ninth hole. At the 10th, he holed out from the fringe just off the green, while at the 12th, he rolled in a putt from just inside 21 feet.

Lucas Glover , winner of the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago, is also making a big move Friday. Like Sabbatini, he's also 5 under through his first 12 holes, leaving him at 4 under for the tournament.

One of Glover's playing partners, Paul Goydos, is also 5 under on his round, putting him at 5 under for the tournament.

Defending Colonial champ Zach Johnson is 2 under through 12 holes and 4 under for the tournament.

Big-hitting Australian Steven Bowditch is 4 under through his first eight holes, moving him to 7 under for the tournament. Bowditch ranks fifth on the PGA TOUR in driving distance.

Like Toms and Reavie, most of the players at the top of the first-round leaderboard do not tee off until this afternoon. They could be dealing with some dicey weather. There is a 70 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon.

MORE FEDEXCUP: Complete standings | Weekly Leaders Just six events into the PGA TOUR season and there has already been much action in the race for the FedExCup. Three players have had the season points lead and five have occupied the No. 2 position already on the young season. Look for more shuffling near the top with a strong field assembled this week. Scheduled to tee it up at Riviera Country Club are 25 of the 30 players who competed in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola in 2010. BIG SEASON DEBUTS: Three of last year’s top 10 in the final FedExCup standings (Luke Donald, Retief Goosen and Paul Casey) will be making their 2011 PGA TOUR season debuts this week at the Northern Trust Open. That trio occupied spots 2-4 behind champion Jim Furyk at East Lake and each of them finished inside the top 10 of the 2010 FedExCup standings after starting the playoffs ranked between 22nd and 27th. Donald has the best track record of the group at Riviera Country Club, posting finishes of P2, T6 and T3 the last three years. BEST NEW ARRIVAL: James Driscoll, who finished 133rd in the FedExCup standings last year and earned his TOUR exemption through q-school, made his first move in the 2011 campaign this week. After missing the cut at Torrey Pines, Driscoll tied for 13th at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am to earn 59 FedExCup points and make his debut in the standings at No. 99. BIGGEST MOVERS: Tom Gillis was the week’s biggest mover, jumping from 93rd to 20th in the FedExCup standings on the strength of his best career finish – a solo third at Pebble Beach. Gillis had three top-10 finishes last season, including a tie for fifth at the Deutsche Bank Championship that propelled him to a 43rd-place finish in the final FedExCup standings. Bryce Molder (111th to 47th) and Steven Bowditch (122nd to 58th) each moved up 64 spots after top-10 finishes at Pebble Beach. NOTABLE DROPS: Robert Garrigus, who lost a playoff to Jonathan Byrd at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions fell out of the top 10 for the first time this season, going to 12th. Since that event, Garrigus has missed three cuts and was 7-under through three rounds at Pebble Beach before withdrawing. The biggest falls this week were Chad Campbell and Jim Furyk, who entered the week in 71st and tied for 72nd respectively before each fell 17 spots. Furyk missed the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am while Campbell was inactive. Furyk, Campbell and Garrigus are all in the field this week. MORE ON LAST WEEK’S WINNER: D.A. Points jumped from No. 26 to No. 2 in the standings with his victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Points is off to one of the TOUR’s better starts this year, making the cut in all four starts and notching three top-20 finishes. He’s currently No. 3 in scoring average, totaling 55-under-par in his 17 rounds this year.