Wagner shot a 3-under 69 on Friday to take the outright lead in the Houston Open before an afternoon storm delayed play for an hour and 45 minutes. More rain came later and the second round was suspended at 7:25 p.m. with 36 players still on the course.
Wagner was safely in at 12 under, three ahead of Charley Hoffman (70) and Mathew Goggin, who shot a 64 to continue the remarkable history of Australians at the tournament. Chad Campbell was at 7 under after matching Goggin's 64 in the breezy, sunny morning.
Defending champion Adam Scott, who shared the first-round lead with Wagner after they set the course record with 9-under 63s, had five bogeys and a double in a 76.
Scott bogeyed No. 2, his first at the Tournament Course at Redstone in 56 holes dating to last year's second round. He was playing the fifth hole when play was halted just before 2 p.m.
The round resumed at 3:34 p.m., with the course softened, but the temperature more than 20 degrees cooler. Scott missed the green with his tee shot on the par-3 ninth, then drove into the water on the 11th to slip to 6 under. He birdied 15 and 16 before finishing bogey-double bogey.
Phil Mickelson beat the bad weather and shot a 68 on Friday, but he was eight behind the leader, who's looking for his first victory in 45 career starts.
The 28-year-old Wagner admits he'll have to control his emotions over the weekend as he tries to win a trip to the Masters.
"You have to use it to your advantage," Wagner said. "Nerves don't have to be a bad thing. They can always be a good thing."
He stayed in a house off the first hole at Augusta in 2004 and played 36 holes two straight days. During one round, his approach to the par-5 15th plugged in the side of the bank.
His great uncle promised that would never happen during the Masters. Wagner is determined to find out for himself.
"I definitely know I'm going to be there some time, whether it's next week or five years from now," he said. "I look forward to playing there in the tournament."
Wagner was in the second group to tee off Friday morning and he moved to 12 under on his opening nine. He got up and down from a greenside bunker on the par-5 fourth, sank a 6-footer for birdie on the 5th and added another birdie on the par-5 eighth, the third-easiest hole during the first round.
He sliced his drive into the water on the par-4 11th and bogeyed, then got the stroke back with a birdie on 13.
Wagner was born in Amarillo and that gives him an edge - Texas natives have won six Houston Opens.
