Jason Day and Min Woo Lee both fired seven-under 63s to be nine under after 36 holes in Texas, while Karl Vilips (65) and Adam Scott (66) are two strokes further back.
"Today was really good," Lee said.
"Cleaned it up a little bit more and it was solid. Didn't really do too much wrong, and yeah, a lot of good things. Maybe a couple things to still clean up, but it was cleaned up from yesterday so good step forward."
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They're all chasing leader Gary Woodland (63) though, who's 13 under and three clear of fellow American Jackson Suber (63) and Nicolai Hojgaard, after the Dane carded a 62 for best round of the day.
Former world No.1s Day and Scott had bogey-free rounds, while Vilips dropped a shot at the first before draining six birdies.
"You get conditions like this, guys are going to go low," Day said.
"Just a nice steady round of golf. Felt like I gave myself good opportunities on the greens ... I holed a lot of bombs early on, which kind of I could get things moving."
Defending champion Lee enjoyed five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 16th after starting on the back nine on Friday (Saturday AEDT).
"Yeah, 16 was a great hole. I hit a nice drive down there and had a 7-iron in, which was great," Lee recounted.
"Holed like a 35-footer down the hill left to right, which is nice. Always a bonus to hole long putts. And then yeah, on our 17th hole, eighth hole, it was a great putt, too. It just went around the back corner. I thought it would go into the side door but just crept over and missed. No, it was a great round."
No slowing down @GaryWoodland 🔥— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 27, 2026His 7-under round gives him a four-shot lead @TCHouOpen.📺 PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/UP25jvNfhF
Woodland wasn't dialled in off the tee, hitting only five fairways, but Memorial Park has enough room to let it fly and he was rarely out of position.
The 2019 US Open champion, who is recovering from September 2023 brain surgery, finished off his round with a wedge to three feet on the par-5 16th, a 15-foot birdie on the 17th and a 12-foot birdie on the 18th.
Compatriot Brooks Koepka, coming off a 75 marred by three double bogeys in the first round, had a triple bogey on the par-3 second and shot 69 to miss the cut for the second time since his return from LIV Golf.
With AP.
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