PGA Tour rookie Chris Kirk shot a 3-under 69 on Friday

PGA Tour rookie Chris Kirk shot a 3-under 69 on Friday

PGA Tour rookie Chris Kirk shot a 3-under 69 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Anthony Kim and 2008 winner Johnson Wagner after two rounds at the Houston Open.Kirk was 9 under and played his last few holes just as the wind picked up in the afternoon and made scoring more difficult. Kim and Wagner took advantage of calm morning conditions. Kim shot a 64, the lowest round of the day, and Wagner had a 67. "I've got very good feelings as soon as I step on the property here," Wagner said.Padraig Harrington, first-round leader Jimmy Walker and Josh Teater were two shots back at 7 under.Organizers groomed the Tournament No One Is The Winner Course at Redstone to simulate conditions that players will see at the Masters next week, and the setup lured many of the world's top players to Houston.Phil Mickelson (70) and Lee Westwood (72) were part of a large group at 4 under and Ernie Els (72) and Fred Couples (72) were among the players at 1 under.The cut fell at even par, and former Masters champions Jose Maria Olazabal and Angel Cabrera were among those who failed to qualify for the weekend.Kirk, second on the Nationwide Tour money list last year, birdied two of his last three holes to take the outright lead golf tournaments and make up for a double bogey on the par-5 4th."I made one bad swing off the tee, and it wasn't even really that bad," Kirk said. "One of those things. No matter how good you're playing, that kind of stuff happens sometimes."Kim's 64 was four shots better than his lowest round when he won last year.Starting on the back nine, Kim made six birdies in his first 10 holes, including chip-ins on Nos. 12 and 16. He needed only 22 putts to equal his lowest round since January.