Dawson moves one clear in San Antonio
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Marco Dawson posted a 5-under 67 in the second round Saturday and he moved one stroke clear of the field after two rounds of the AT&T Championship.
Dawson, a tour rookie, finished 36 holes at 12-under-par 132. He will go for his first Champions Tour win on Sunday.
Woody Austin fired a 7-under 65 and jumped into second place at minus-11. Wes Short, Jr. posted his second straight 5-under 67 and is alone in third place at 10-under-par 134.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last week's winner Jay Haas shot 4-under 68. He joined Michael Allen (65) and Scott Hoch (67) in fourth place at minus-9. Kirk Triplett is alone in seventh at 8-under 136 after a second-round 69.
John Cook, who shared the first-round lead with Dawson, managed an even-par 72. He dipped into a share of eighth at minus-7 with Bernhard Langer (66) and Fred Funk (67).
Cook birdied the first and third to maintain a share of the lead with Dawson, who made birdies at two and three. Dawson drained his third consecutive birdie at the fourth to move to 10-under, where he led by one.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dawson pushed his lead to two with an 8-foot birdie putt on the sixth. After a pair of pars, Dawson tripped to a bogey on the ninth, but he still led by one.
Austin, who was five groups ahead of Dawson, had five birdies in the first 13 holes. Austin poured in a 25-foot eagle try on the par-5 15th to jump into the lead at 11-under.
Dawson joined him there with a 15-footer for birdie at the 12th. Dawson traded a bogey for a birdie from the 14th. He rolled in another 10-foot birdie try at the 17th and parred the last to lead by one.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I drove it well again today. I think I missed just a couple of fairways. I hit a poor 7-iron on 14. I misjudged the wind there," Dawson explained. "I'm not going to lose any sleep where I am. I guess you call it controlling your emotions."
Austin followed his eagle with three pars to close out his round.
"A really solid day. I hit a lot of good shots and I hit it close quite a bit," said Austin. "It's important for me to make putts early. I'm not a confident putter. If I don't make them early, I start to press."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cook parred six in a row from the fourth. He fell off the pace with bogeys at 10 and 11. He made seven straight pars from the 12th to close out his round.
NOTES: Dawson's lone win at a PGA Tour-sanctioned event was in 2002 at the Web.com Tour's LaSalle Bank Open ... The last time Dawson had the lead entering the final round of an event was at the 1991 Buick Open on the PGA Tour ... Defending champion Kenny Perry posted a 2-under 70 and is tied for 11th at 6-under 138.