It was a good day for Texans whose last names begin with "C" on Friday at the 70th Masters Tournament.

Chad Campbell walks off the green after a birdie at No. 18 moved him to 5-under 67. He finished the day atop the leaderboard. (Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff)

Chad Campbell took the lead, 54-year-old Ben Crenshaw remained in the top 10 and 67-year-old Charles Coody ended his career on a high note.

Campbell, 31, might represent the future in golf for the Lone Star State. The Andrews native and Lewisville resident has a three-shot lead at the halfway mark at Augusta National Golf Club.

Swirling winds made their first appearance of the week Friday, which suited Campbell, who learned how to play on the windy plains of his home state.

Campbell shot 67, one of just three rounds in the 60s on the day, and is at 6-under-par 138 through 36 holes.

Tied for second are first-round leader and 2000 Masters champ Vijay Singh (74 on Friday), 1992 Masters champ Fred Couples (70) and Rocco Mediate (73), all at 3 under.

Couples, who is 46, is trying to duplicate Jack Nicklaus' record victory at that age 20 years ago. Couples also has a Texas connection; the Washington native played his college golf at the University of Houston.

Five players, including 2004 Masters champion Phil Mickelson (72) and two-time Masters runner-up Ernie Els (71) are four shots behind.

Four-time winner and defending champion Tiger Woods is among the group five shots off the lead. Last year, Woods trailed by six shots after 36 holes.

"I'm in contention, so it's a good spot, I guess," Woods said.

Campbell, who is sixth on the PGA Tour money list this season, has ridden strong iron play to the lead. He ranks second in the field for greens in regulation (28 of 36).

Vijay Singh chips out of the woods on the fourth hole. The 2000 Masters champion carded double bogey on the hole Friday on his way to shooting 74. (Michael Holahan/Staff)

"I wouldn't say it's easy, but I felt like I was hitting a lot of good shots," said Campbell, who won the Bob Hope Classic in January. "I felt like I was hitting (my irons) good (at the Hope). I think if anything, I'm probably hitting them a little bit better now."

Crenshaw, who hadn't made a Masters cut since 1997 before Friday, acknowledges he's "on the back side of his career."

The Austin resident hasn't played like a Champions Tour golfer this week. With putting rounds of 24 and 30 strokes in the first two trips around the course he loves, Crenshaw has shot 71-72-143. He's tied for 10th place, five shots behind Campbell.

"I'm continuing to have a really nice pace and touch on my putts, and that's helping me," Crenshaw said.

Crenshaw is in contention despite being 86th in the 90-man field in average driving distance at 269 yards per drive.

"I've had six not-so-good years around here, but I've somehow proved to myself there's a way around here," Crenshaw said. "I'm playing from a pretty good ways back (in the fairway) and my ball is coming in pretty hot into these greens, because I'm hitting longer clubs."

Those clubs could be even longer if rain forecast for today materializes and slows the course.

As for Coody, the 1971 Masters champion from Abilene went out in style. After opening with Thursday's high score (89), he had a second-round 74, his lowest round here since 72 in 2001. Coody flirted with shooting 72 again Friday; he was even par for the round until making double bogey on No. 17.

Coody didn't decide until Sunday that he would play this week. Before he teed off Thursday, Coody knew this would be his 40th and final Masters. He made sure his son, 41-year-old Kyle, was his caddie, for the occasion.

"I have a lot of respect for this golf tournament, which is the reason I won't play (in the future)," Coody said.

Vijay Singh drops his club after hitting a bad approach shot at No. 5. Singh led the first round with 67 but shot 74 on Friday and is tied for second. (Michael Holahan/Staff)

If Campbell keeps playing the way he has - 11 birdies and just five bogeys in 36 holes - he could join a list of famous Masters champions from Texas.

They include three-time champion Jimmy Demaret and two-time champions Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Crenshaw.

Texans have won the Masters 12 times; Crenshaw, in 1995, is the last Texan to win.

"I don't think there's anything to celebrate yet," Campbell said. "I haven't really accomplished much yet.

"It's special to be leading after two rounds. Obviously, my goal is to be leading after four rounds, but it's a good start and hopefully I'll have a good weekend."

Taming the 7,445-yard Augusta National Golf Club is a tall order these days. Campbell's 67 matched the low round of the tournament and tied his Masters career low, shot in the third round of 2005.

"What Chad did today was remarkable," Mediate said.

Campbell, who is playing in his fourth Masters, had six birdies against one bogey.

"He's one of our best, if not our best hitter of the ball we have," Mediate said. "He's in the top three, at least, and that's what you need here. He obviously did that today because you're not making five or six birdies by not hitting your ball good here. He's just solid."

Campbell went off at 9:39 a.m., in the 10th group of the day.

Fred Couples looks skyward after hitting into the water at the par-3 16th hole. Couples bogeyed the hole on his way to a second-round 70. (Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff)

"Chad Campbell played a great round of golf to shoot 5- under par, but he did it in the morning when it wasn't blowing as much," Mickelson said.

"Yeah, the guys that went off early probably played in the wind maybe half the round, maybe more, maybe less, depends on where they were on their time," Woods said. "Tomorrow, we're all out there about the same time, and you've got to go out there and play."

Barring thunderstorms that could halt play today, Campbell is scheduled to go off at 2:50 p.m. with Mediate. Woods plays at 1:30.

Campbell, Mark Hensby (67) and Olin Browne (69) were the only players to shoot in the 60s, compared with nine that did it in 2005's second round. The scoring average for the second round was 73.966 compared with 73.892 in 2005. There were also no bogey-free rounds; the field had two Thursday.

Through two rounds this year, there have been fewer birdies compared to 2005 (452 to 459) but more eagles (23 compared to four).

Those numbers mean little to Mickelson, who simply plays the course as he finds it.

"I try to prepare to win the tournament or to be in contention, and whatever the course is, however it's set up, however it's changed, I just try to accommodate and play to that to win on the golf course," Mickelson said. "Maybe later in my career when I stop playing or stop playing competitively and look back and say, 'I liked it better when it was this, or I liked it better when it was that.'

"But it's irrelevant to me right now. All I care about is trying to play whatever course is presented this particular year."

Forty-seven of the 90 starters made the cut, which fell at 148 for the third consecutive year. Fifty players qualified in 2005.

The only player in the top 10 of the world ranking to miss the cut was No. 8 David Toms, who had 72-78-150.

Rocco Mediate putts on the 16th green, where he made par. Mediate followed his opening-round 68 with a 1-over 73 on Friday to stay in second place. (Annette M. Drowlette/Staff)

Chris DiMarco, who tied for sixth here in 2004 and lost a playoff to Woods last year, was the biggest surprise among those heading home early. DiMarco shot 76-74-150, mainly because of a balky putter. He took 33 putts Thursday and 32 on Friday.

DiMarco did hole out a 177-yard, 6-iron shot from the fairway on the par-4 18th hole for eagle. It was only the fifth eagle on the hole in tournament history, and the first since John Huston did it in 1997.

Augusta native Larry Mize, the 1987 Masters champion, shot 75-72-147 to make his first cut here since 2000.

Augusta resident Vaughn Taylor and Augusta native Charles Howell weren't as fortunate. Taylor shot 75-74-149 in his Augusta National debut, and Howell shot 80-84-164.

For the first time since 2002, no amateurs made the cut.

Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.