HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Three years ago, Brian Davis lost to Jim Furyk in a playoff at Harbour Town after calling a penalty on himself.

Thursday, he took a step toward moving past that memory.

Davis carded a 6-under 65 for a one-stroke lead after the first round of the RBC Heritage.

Kevin Streelman and Charley Hoffman are a stroke back, while Marc Leishman, Jason Day and Johnson Wagner are at 3 under.

"It's good in this game to have a short memory, good or bad," Davis said. "I still have people stop me in the street or at the golf club or at airports. People do remember (the penalty), but for me I'm just trying to move on from that, and trying to win a golf tournament."

With 54 holes remaining, and bad weather in the forecast for late Friday and early Saturday, Davis knows he has a long way to go.

Thursday was a good start with eight birdies and just two bogeys.

Meanwhile, Day and Leishman are looking to make it two wins in as many weeks for Australia after Adam Scott won the Masters last week.

Both were bogey-free on Thursday and feeling good after being in contention last week, too.

"Playing last week it felt like there was pressure the whole week," said Day, who finished third at the Masters. "Coming into this week it's pretty laid back, but it is a TOUR event and I want to do well."

Davis had eight birdies in the opening round of the RBC Heritage. (Cohen/Getty Images)

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Three years ago, Brian Davis called a penalty on himself during a playoff against Jim Furyk at Harbour Town.

Thursday, karma paid him back.

Davis shot a 65 to take an early two-stroke lead over Marc Leishman and Jason Day in the RBC Heritage.

"It's good in this game to have a short memory, good or bad," Davis said. "I still have people stop me in the street or at the golf club or at airports. People do remember (the penalty), but for me I'm just trying to move on from that, and trying to win a golf tournament."

He's off to a good start.

Davis' score Thursday was his lowest of a somewhat disappointing season so far. In 10 starts this year, he has more missed cuts (five) than made (four) and his best finish, a tie for sixth in Houston, is his lone top 25.

At Harbour Town, though, Davis made eight birdies, including six in a seven-hole stretch, while taking just 24 putts.

The best of those birdies came early in the round for Davis.

After a bogey on the par-3 fourth hole, Davis bounced back with a birdie on the next hole before chipping in for another on No. 6 for the second of what would be three in a row.

"It's one of them things, next hole I left myself an easy, easy chip, and I played great golf after that," Davis said. "I was just playing golf. I wasn't worried about my score or about my misses, I was just playing.

"Whenever you get that feeling, it's always a great feeling to have because it's enjoyable. When you're worrying about where you don't want to hit it, which around this course you have to, it can weigh you down."

CROMWELL, Conn. -- James Driscoll grew up about 90 minutes north of TPC River Highlands and because of that said he expects a “rowdy” crowd for the final round of the Travelers Championship.

If he keeps playing the way he has so far, he might be right.

Driscoll chipped in for birdie on the first hole, then added another birdie on No. 3 to get to 12 under and in a tie for the lead with Brian Davis.

A standout as an amateur, Driscoll twice won the Massachusetts State Amateur. He also beat Luke Donald to reach the final of the 2000 U.S. Amateur.

On the PGA TOUR, it’s been a different story. Driscoll has gone 179 starts without a victory.

Neither has the player he’s tied with.

Davis has gone 237 starts without a win and has five career runner-up finishes. He ranks third on the all-time money list of players who have yet to win on TOUR.

Will that change today? Four of the last six winners here were first-time winners.

CROMWELL, Conn. -- We’re still 45 minutes away from the final group of Brian Davis and Roland Thatcher teeing off. Both are trying to win for the first time on the PGA TOUR. Here’s a sort of tale-of-the-tape of the two co-leaders.

Roland Thatcher

-- Thatcher, who hasn’t made a cut since March and has made just three all year, is looking for his first top 10 of the year. He has just two top-10 finishes each of the last four seasons on TOUR.

-- Thatcher missed his previous two cuts at the Travelers Championship in 2009 and 2010. His only other start came in 2004 when he tied for 71st.

-- Twice, Thatcher has led going into the final round of an event. In 2004, he led at the Reno-Tahoe Open before finishing in a tie for fifth. In 2010, he was leading the Children’s Miracle Network Classic going into the last day before finishing second.

-- Jason Dufner, who won twice on TOUR this year, and seven-time winner John Huston are the only former Auburn Tigers who have won on TOUR. Thatcher and Will Claxton, who is three strokes off the lead, are both former Tigers.

Brian Davis

-- Davis is looking for his fourth top-10 finish of the season, which would tie his personal best from 2009.

-- Davis has five runner-up finishes in 237 starts on TOUR -- but zero wins.

-- Davis is making his seventh start here. His only top 10 came last year (T9). Davis’ last seven rounds at TPC River Highlands have been at 68 or better.

-- Davis’ only other third-round lead/co-lead came at the 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial when he was tied with Bryce Molder entering the final round. Davis shot 68, but Zach Johnson shot a 64 to win.

CROMWELL, Conn. -- TPC River Highlands is no stranger to low scores, and we’re seeing one from Brian Davis right now.

The 37-year-old Englishman who has five times been a runner-up on the PGA TOUR just made the turn in 29 after six birdies through his first nine holes.

Davis has yet to miss a green in regulation and has missed only one fairway here in the third round.

In case you’re wondering, the course record here is 60, which was shot by then-amateur Patrick Cantlay in last year’s second round.

He’s not the only player going low, though.

Padraig Harrington is 5 under through 12 holes and within three of Davis. Chez Reavie and Bubba Watson are also 5 under on their rounds.

In all, there are 18 players within four shots of Davis at the moment.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: The best images from the Shell Houston Open

What is the Englishman doing in the final round of the Shell Houston Open? Leave your comments below -- and please, keep it clean!

Dry conditions greeted the field as play resumed on Saturday at the Shell Houston Open.

Four players on the course -- Jeff Maggert, James Driscoll, Carl Pettersson and Angel Cabrera -- restarted Saturday within three shots of co-leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Brian Davis, who finished Friday at 11 under.

Updates from the second round on Saturday morning: 

12:30 p.m. ET: The second round is over, with the final cut at 2 under. The third round will begin at 12:45 p.m. ET. Round 3 tee times

11:30 a.m. ET: Jeff Maggert is officially the 36-hole leader. James Driscoll got to 11 under with a birdie on the par-5 eighth, but he parred the ninth to become the third person at 11 under. Updated tee times will be posted when available; the cut remains at 2 under.

10:45 a.m. ET: Nice bounceback for Keegan Bradley, who birdied the par-4 17th to get back to 9 under, three shots back. Carl Pettersson birdied the par-5 eighth to become the fourth player in double digits at 10 under.

10:30 a.m. ET: Jeff Maggert is the likely 36-hole lead after he wrapped up his second consecutive 66 on Saturday morning. Maggert actually got to 13 under, but he bogeyed the par-3 ninth for his first bogey of the week.

10:20 a.m. ET: Keegan Bradley bogeyed the tough par-3 16th to drop back to 8 under, five shots back. He still has to play the mammoth par-4 17th and 18th.

9:45 a.m. ET: Maggert is the sole leader at 12 under, and Keegan Bradley is making a run. Bradley reeled off three straight birdies to get within three shots of the lead.

LIVE LEADERBOARD: Shell Houston Open | Shot Tracker

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM HUMBLE, Texas – It’s been a long few months for Brian Davis. Lots of changes, lots of adjusting. The hardest/toughest one? Brian Davis lost his father to cancer. “It was obviously a tough time for me and time to maybe reassess my life and look at what I'm doing, which I did, and it's been a positive,’’ Davis said. “... I was very close to my parents. I just had to search for, you know, finding a way. No one can explain what it's like. It's one of those things you have to go through and, you know, took me awhile to sort of get through that and, you know, get myself ready to play.’’ Davis also changed his caddie and his sports psychologist and went to work on his swing and getting it back to where he wanted it to be. “(I wanted to)  improve it as well but get rid of the faults I had.’’ And he had to figure out better time management. It didn’t show at the first of the season, but now? Seems like he’s ready to take off. He got into last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational on an exemption and – bam – finished tied for fourth. And this week? He backed up an opening 68 with a 65 to share the early-evening, incomplete second round lead at the Shell Houston Open with Louis Oosthuizen. “It was a good day at the office today,’’ said Davis, whose best finish at the SHO was a T-7 in 2005. “It was tougher this morning because we didn't have ball in hand to start the round and we had the rain yesterday. “This morning was pretty tough. The ball was flying everywhere. Got the ball in hand this afternoon, you know, got a flag to go at.’’ Davis, who has never won on the TOUR, but has finished second five times, said the key was the changes in the offseason. “Took a whole look, you know, everything basically,’’ he said. “Spent a lot of time in the winter with Bob Winters and, you know, just felt really good coming out to start the season and I played awful. So it was quite hard to take me. You go backwards, it seems like.  But, it's one of them things you got to stay the course and keep at it.’’ Friday, Davis played 32 holes because of Thursday’s rain suspension. He was on the board after cleaning up his opening 68, but in the afternoon, he took off. Davis shot 2-under on the back nine – his first nine – then birdied the first and second holes to get to 9-under for the tournament. “This morning was a lot tougher, every fairway I had a mud ball, so the balls were going haywire and a lot tougher,’’ he said. “This afternoon you could be more aggressive, and obviously hitting fairways, I was able to clean the ball and play aggressive shots.’’  

There are 20 career PGA TOUR victories among the players ranked No. 71-80 that were unveiled Saturday on PGATOUR.COM’s Top 100 Players to Watch in 2012. Unfortunately, just one of those wins came in 2011. Johnson Wagner’s victory at the Mayakoba Golf Classic was the lone TOUR victory among the group. Robert Garrigus, Chez Reavie, Steve Marino and Ryan Palmer each had at least one runner-up finish, though. Marino joins Erik Compton, Brendon de Jonge and Brian Davis as the four players in this group still seeking their first victory. Those four, however, have been knocking on the door. They have combined for 15 top-3 finishes in their carreers. Below is a link to each of the 10 players who were revealed on Saturday. PGATOUR.COM will countdown the players for the rest of December, with No. 1 unveiled on Dec. 30. Be sure to check out this year’s new addition of the Three Wise Men – Chris DiMarco, Arron Oberholser and Craig Perks, who offer their takes on each of the players on the list . Let’s us know how you think these players will perform in 2012 and whether we ranked ‘em too high, too low or just right. No. 71: Robert Garrigus No. 72: Heath Slocum No. 73: Stuart Appleby No. 74: Chez Reavie No. 75: Erik Compton No. 76: Brendon de Jonge No. 77: Steve Marino No. 78: Ryan Palmer No. 79: Brian Davis No. 80: Johnson Wagner CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARCHIVE PAGE/SCHEDULE FOR THE TOP 100 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2012