The current top-5's (real-time as I'm typing) positions respectively from first to fifth: 209th, 61st, 123rd, 124th and 207th.  It's interesting (and we all seem to forget this around this time of year) how the players who have their cards locked up for next year tend to step out of the way for those who do; like our top-5 right now.  The play itself has been great to this point, as you'd expect in such beautiful weather.  The current cut line is even par as we speak; and it does seem to be a challenge for a lot of players you wouldn't expect it from.  However, it's a very tightly bunched group on the good side of the cut line; meaning there's the potential for a whole lot of lead changes, or a big move one way or the other on the weekend.  This week's Who Is He currently leads the tournament through two rounds, currently sitting at -10, a two-shot lead.

Who Is He: Chris Stroud

Age: 26

Birthplace: Nederland, Texas, United States

Current Tour: PGA Tour (Top-15 Nationwide Tour Money List Exemption)

Turned Pro: 2004 (Nationwide Tour)

Earnings:  Nationwide Tour. 14 Events Played, 8 Cuts Made.  Best Finish, T-9th.  $72,067.  PGA Tour. 50 Events Played, 17 Cuts Made.  Best Finish, T-5th (2007). $813,301.

Why Should We Care: Stroud currently (as of printing) leads the Valero Texas Open by two shots against a better than decent field; and in most cases a desperate field.  He's a very young and talented player who has only a few things to tighten up in his game if he wants to be successful going forward.  He's a competitive player; and one who has shown the ability to grind out a good finish, even if things aren't working out for him.  And when they are, he's got the ability to absolutely catch fire.  These are things that he will need to work on as he continues to mature as a golfer.  Some people get it done, and some people never do; but Stroud, unlike a lot of younger players out there; really looks like the kid you dragged off his High School golf team.  Regardless, if he tightens his game; it won't matter what he looks like.  He's absolutely got the goods and raw talent to succeed on Tour.  Clinching another card this week would go a long way to building his confidence. 

He's got some work to do in his game, let there be no doubt.  He is 125th in Driving Distance, which is fine for a course like this one, but may hurt him on some of the longer courses.  He's 52nd in Driving Accuracy, which helps to offset the lack of distance a bit.  What he MUST fix are the other core parts of his game.  He's 102nd in Greens In Regulation.  He's 168th in Sand Saves.  Those all need to get to at least "average" before Overton can, week after week, compete on that elite (or at least "check-cashing") level.  And, without exception, they all need to be fixed.  You can't suffer that badly in these categories and expect to have a good career on Tour; especially with some of the greats you'll see in the field this week.  His weakest part of his game, however, is his putting; he's 198th in Putting Average, and 195th in Putts Per Round.  This is really just flat out bad.  You can't expect to win (or even make cuts) if you can't putt on Tour.  Look at someone like Sergio Garcia.  If he could putt, he would have won 5+ Majors by now.  It's got to be something that's corrected, whether it's finding the right putter or a coach to guide him through it.  Greens In Regulation and sand play CAN be fixed; they're two of the correctable things you can do to improve.  You can tweak your swing and try to get an extra five yds/drive - and you can change putters 100 times; but Greens In Regulation and Sand play can be fixed through practice.  That's a positive to take away into the off-season.

This week, he's done pretty much just that; improve those things you can improve on; at least to this point in the tournament.  He's shot 66-64 in the first two rounds to give him a 2 shot lead.  He's 2nd in Driving Distance, which is a huge surprise.  He's T-90th in Driving Accuracy; making his Driving looking like it was done by someone else.  It's totally backward from his normal game; but it's working for now.  He's also 67th in Putting Average - also not a huge surprise.  What IS the big surprise is this:  He's 7th in Putts Per GIR (Putting Average) and T-29th in Greens In Regulation.  That's pretty good, and shows a much better overall game than he usually displays, but you can tell even still that his game is volatile and way too inconsistent. He's got a track record of inconsistency - but if this tournament is any indication; he might be improving where he needs to be improving.  Making the cut, however, would be the first achievement he should be proud of.  He hasn't made that many of them, and at least he's guaranteed a paycheck now.