HUMBLE — On Tuesday night, during one of those pre-tournament sponsor dinners that professional golfers usually regard as just slightly north of a root canal on the pleasure scale, someone at Hunter Mahan's table asked him why he thought he was playing so well this season.

Did he make some tweak in his game? Had a light switched on?

"I'm just happy man," Mahan responded.

Why wouldn't he be? He's married to a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. He's living where he wants to live (in Colleyville near Grapevine outside of Dallas, not far from where he grew up). And at 29, Mahan appears poised to take his already-Top-15-worthy golf game to another level.

The Major level. That is what's standing between Mahan and a spot among the PGA Tour's superstars. He needs to make some major noise in a Major, to grab one of the biggest golf tournaments of all. He sure looks like he's on the verge in the Shell Houston Open, the last tournament before The Masters.

Under a relentless Texas sun (the heat index reached 98 degrees Saturday and simply walking Redstone Golf Club guaranteed that your shirt would be soaked in sweat), the Texas boy shot a blistering seven-under 65 Saturday to put himself into the final pairing on Sunday. With Mahan going low and his cheerleader wife Kandi Harris tweeting a picture of her sunburn, the Houston Open is on the brink of becoming a Dallas party.

One that should cause even the likes of Tiger Woods to sit up and take at least a little notice. For as everyone sizes up a possible Woods-Rory McIlroy duel in The Masters, and the curious (which is also everyone, including many who won't admit it) wait to see what Woods' porn star mistresses "reveal" about the greatest golfer ever in their Masters-week movie, a new green jacket threat may be emerging.

Woods' drive for his 15th Major could be blocked by the happy hubby of a former Cowboys cheerleader too.

Mahan's always been capable of posting crazy, low numbers. He binges on birdies like Kevin from The Office ​binges on Girl Scout cookies. The eight birdies Mahan threw at the field on Saturday are hardly a freak occurrence. When Mahan goes low, he goes really low.

"You're just so in the moment," Mahan said afterwards of his run. "You're not worried about the score. I didn't know how many under I was until 15 or 16 because I was just into the round.

"I was just playing golf. I was just trying to hit the next shot as good as I could and trying to stay in the moment as best I can."

If Mahan gets into one of these zones in a Major . . . watch out.

Putt Bombs

This is one of the more entertaining players in golf. If you linger back a few groups with Phil Mickelson on Sunday at the Shell (the defending champ and forever People's Champ is six shots back going into the final round), you're liable to miss something spectacular from Mahan.

Mahan's hit 52, 80 and 112-foot putts in the last three days at Redstone. He might as well be putting from Colleyville. And they keep going in.

Surprise 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen is leading the tournament, and Mahan, by two strokes after putting up a nifty 67-66-66 line. But on a Sunday that Mickelson thinks there could be a "nine-under" 63 out there, you have to wonder if Mahan's not the best bet to grab it.

Let Oosthuizen talk about the sunset as he finished off his Saturday round with darkness creeping up on Redstone. Mahan has even less stress. And a cheerleader.

"It's not that important," Mahan said, refusing to go with the usual cliche when asked how huge a win at the Shell would be for his Masters confidence. "I know my game is good. I feel good about what I'm doing right now. I have to go out there and trust it. Whether I win or don't play well, it's not going to knock me off too much.

"I've played too much golf for one round to mean more than any other round."

Mahan may share a swing coach with Tiger Woods (Sean Foley) but he hardly talks like Tiger. He's his own, more low-key man. Whether that will build into Major wins is the question. When people see how smooth Mahan's swing is, they tend to think he's won even more than he has.

Someone at the Mahan table I sat at for the Shell Legacy Award dinner almost insisted to Mahan that he'd won the grueling Match Play tournament twice. Mahan politely pointed out he's only won the Match Play once — earlier this year in the Arizona desert. "I've won another WGC (World Golf Championship) tournament though," Mahan offered helpfully.

This is how it goes for one of the happiest men on Tour. Go ahead and get Mahan's record wrong. He won't fret.

He'll just keep firing darts at the flag, playing limbo as few others can. He has a chance to become the first two-time winner on the Tour this year Sunday afternoon.

It's a Sunday with a good chance of seeing the Houston Open's modern attendance record broken. On-site parking is completely sold out for the first time.

It's all good to Mahan. He still won't sweat it.