"When you embrace the challenge it calms you down a little bit", Henley, who started the day four strokes behind Kang, said after carding 65 to finish at 20-under-par 268 at the Golf Club of Houston.
But Kang, whose impressive birdie putt run began with a 14-footer at the third, sank another 14-footer at 17 to match the lead before missing a four-foot par putt at the last, an error he blamed on spike marks.
Hudson Swafford and Russell Henley were at 10-under after both shooting 5-under 67. Just playing and going through the process of getting ready makes things a lot easier when you go tee it up on Thursday next week.
In Round 2, Sung Kang could not be stopped at the Shell Houston Open.
"I feel like I'm starting to understand myself and what it takes to compete and what works for me", said the 27-year-old. "I'll just keep doing what I can do the next few days, and I'll accept the results".
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Kang said he doesn't want to get too ahead of himself by eyeing a last-minute ticket to Augusta after the first round. "I knew that anything could happen, but I couldn't help but think about it". He fired a final-round 64 at the famed Bethpage Black course in NY during The Barclays a year ago and matched the course record set by Johnson Wagner an hour before.
Kang's three career wins to date have all been on the Korean Tour, the last of which coming in 2013, while in 2009 he lost out in a European Tour play-off to Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee with the Ballantine's Championship at stake.
"I like playing my way into the majors and they've been able to do a great job here with conditions around the greens and making it as similar as possible to next week".
Swedish world number five Henrik Stenson (77), sixth-ranked Jordan Spieth (77), seventh-ranked Australian Adam Scott (77) and South African Ernie Els (75) all missed the cut in the final event before the April 6-9 Masters.
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