Valero Texas Open, Round 1
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
LEONARD AT IT AGAIN (6:18 p.m.): Make that a combined 90-under par since 2000 at the Valero Texas Open for three-time tournament champion Justin Leonard, who just chipped in from 62 feet away on No. 18 for his seventh birdie of the day to tie for the lead at 7-under 63 today.
Clearly, this place agrees with Leonard's game -- he's also twice been a runner-up here -- and Thursday was just another case of that. Leonard hit 11 of 14 fairways, 12 of 18 greens in regulation and needed only 24 putts for the day. He also played the last six holes in 4 under to close out a back-nine 31. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Leonard's scorecard from Thursday:
PAVIN THE WAY (6 p.m.): As captain of next year's U.S. Ryder Cup team, Corey Pavin is no doubt keeping one eye on some potential Ryder Cup players this week. With the way he played Thursday, however, he might also be watching the leaderboard.
Pavin shot a 66 with five birdies and just one bogey to sit just three shots off the lead as we near the end of today's opening round.
"I like playing here for whatever reason, maybe the firm ground, a little wind," Pavin said. "I like that type of setup, so it's been good for my game over the years."
As for the Ryder Cup?
"I wouldn't say it's quite in the back of my mind. It's more in the forefront than that, but I'm just watching a lot of golf on TV, keeping my eye on some of the younger players I haven't seen play much," Pavin said. "Try to play practice rounds with them once in a while, just keeping my eye on what the trends are and what the guys are doing, but for the most part, I think it's going to be helping me next year. But I think doing some due diligence this year is not a bad idea." -- Brian Wacker
A.K. NOT O.K. (5:40 p.m.): Three years ago, Anthony Kim opened a lot of eyes when he shot 69-68-66-65 to finish at 11 under and in a tie for second in what was his first PGA TOUR event as a professional. Since then, Kim has added two victories, but also seen his share of struggles, the latest of which came last week at THE PLAYERS Championship, where he missed the cut with rounds of 73-82.
Today, Kim came back a bit with a 69 -- though he's still not even close to where he wants to be. He's playing with some sort of bandage on his hand and last week spent the weekend practicing at TPC Sawgrass after recently hiring his old strength and conditioning coach from Oklahoma to get his body and game back into shape. Kim's confidence is also admittedly low and you can understand why. He had seven birdies Thursday, but also had four bogeys and a double bogey in the type of round that's been a microcosm of A.K.s season. -- Brian Wacker
LEONARD GOING LOW AGAIN (5:05 p.m.): Not surprisingly, Justin Leonard is climbing the leaderboard at the Valero Texas Open, which he's won three times previously.
Leonard is currently 4 under through 13 holes -- he started on the back nine -- and headed to another sub-70 round here.
In his last 26 rounds dating back to 2000 in this event, Leonard is an absurd 83-under par with just one missed cut in seven trips. Of those 26 rounds, only four of them have been 70 or higher. The highest score in that stretch was a 2-over 72 in the final round of the '06 tournament, while the lowest was a 64, which he's done five times. -- Brian Wacker
| Justin Leonard at the Valero Texas Open since 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MAKING THE MOST OF AN OPPORTUNITY (4:45 p.m.): Mark Leishman, who tied for the 20th and final spot to qualify for the PGA TOUR through the Nationwide Tour money list last year, turned in his best round on TOUR with a 64 today. Previously, Leishman shot a 65 at the Sony Open in Hawaii on his way to a personal-best T12. Leishman has missed six of 11 cuts this season, but is in good position after his round today, which leaves him just one off the lead. -- Mark Stevens
FRAZAR CATCHING FIRE (4:20 p.m.): Almost no one in the afternoon wave at LaCantera has been able to make a run at Paul Goydos' 7-under 63 today, except for Harrison Frazar.
Frazar, who was born and still lives in Dallas, played his first nine holes of the day -- the back side -- in 3-under 32 and has since added another birdie on No. 2 to get 4 under on the day after rolling in a 29-footer.
Frazar, you might recall, was the q-school medalist last year -- winning by eight strokes after shooting 59 in the fourth of six grueling rounds. The Texas grad has never won on the PGA TOUR, but he's been a runner-up four times and already has three top 20s this season.
The 38-year-old father of three recently began designing golf courses. In fact, he was the player consultant on D.A. Weibring's redesign of the TPC Las Colinas, which hosts the HP Byron Nelson Championship next week, so his solid play may be particularly well-timed. -- Helen Ross
HAAS MAKES A LITTLE HISTORY (3:55 p.m.): Bill Haas accomplished something today that his father Jay Haas was never able to do in over 30 years and 797 events on the PGA TOUR. Bill shot a 29 on the back-nine (his first nine) in his first appearance at the Valero Texas Open. Father Jay, an assistant captain on this year's Presidents Cup team, played in the Valero Texas Open 23 times in his career, winning the event twice, but his lowest career 9-hole score was a 30, which he accomplished six times. -- Mark Stevens
SELF DEFENSE (3:40 p.m.): Zach Johnson won the Valero Texas Open just seven months ago, when the event was part of the Fall Series. This week, he's trying to become the third player this season to successfully defend a 2008 title -- Phil Mickelson at the Northern Trust Open and Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard are the others.
So far, K.J. Choi's T12 was the best finish by a player trying to defend their 2008 TOUR win.
In all of 2008 only three players were able to defend their 2007 titles (Woods-Buick Invitational, Boo Weekley-Verizon Heritage and Padraig Harrington-British Open). -- Mark Stevens
| Zach Johnson: Results defending a title | ||||||||||||
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MORE ON GOYDOS GOING LOW (3:25 p.m.): It wasn't a career-low 18-hole round for Paul Goydos, but his 6-under 29 on the front matched his tournament personal best low 9-hole score. Goydos also turned in a 29 in the final-round at this event in 2000.
Goydos' career low 9-hole score -- front or back -- is a 28 at the 1999 Byron Nelson Championship.
The last time Goydos held a first-round lead/co-lead was at the 1999 U.S. Open, where he finished T12. His other two first-round leads came in 1996 at the NEC World Series of Golf (T23) and the Bay Hill Invitational (1st).
Goydos has competed in the Valero Texas Open 11 times previously, dating back to 1993, without ever having missed a cut. His best finish was a T7 in 2003 to go with seven top-25 finishes. -- Mark Stevens
DAVIS PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF (3 p.m.): Brian Davis may not have been the most recognizable name on the leaderboard Sunday at THE PLAYERS Championship.
He was the only player who broke par all four days at te PGA TOUR's marquee event, though. And the Englishman has certainly picked up where he left off this week at the Valero Texas Open.
Davis made eight birdies and just three bogeys at La Cantera to finish with a 65 that left him two strokes off the lead held by Paul Goydos. Davis, who has battled two herniated disks in recent years, appears to have regained some much-needed confidence. -- Helen Ross
LEADER UPDATE (2:50 p.m.): The afternoon wave is on the golf course and some players have still yet to tee off, but no one seems to be making a run at the top of the leaderboard right now.
Paul Goydos got out early and took advantage, shooting a 7-under 63 that looks like it will hold up throughout. He does have some company, however, with Jeff Maggert finishing in 64 a little while ago, along with Marc Leishman. Brian Davis and Greg Owen are one more back, while David Duval is among a large group at 66.
Defending champion Zach Johnson, meanwhile, is just on the course and is 1 under through three holes. -- Brian Wacker
GOYDOS ON HIS GOLF (2:25 p.m.): Paul Goydos and San Antonio just agree with each other. That's how he described how, at least in part, he was able to play so well today in shooting a 7-under 63 to grab the early lead.
"I think I've broken 30 maybe three times. Been on either nine, too," Goydos said. "It's a different golf course right now than it is in the fall. I think if the wind doesn't blow, I think we'll see some pretty low scoring, because it's softer.
"I think this is a good golf course. It rewards good play and penalizes poor play. You see a range of scores on this golf course. If you play good and make putts like I did, you can shoot 62, 3, whatever. If you don't make putts and don't play good, you can shoot 73 here pretty quick."
Shooting 73 certainly would have been understandable for Goydos, who, in the last year, had a difficult loss on the golf course at the 2008 PLAYERS Championship and off it had to deal with the recent loss of his ex-wife.
"We're all going to go through difficult times," Goydos said. "I've been on TOUR for 17 years. I'm sure there's plenty of other people been on TOUR for 17 years who have had difficult times. It's just something you have to deal with in life and it's part of the growing and maturing process, not only for me but for my girls, too."
Judging by the way Goydos has handled himself on and off the course, he has certainly handled the tough times pretty well. -- Brian Wacker
CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA (2 p.m.): At the other end of the spectrum of Paul Goydos' 63 was Jose Coceres' 80 today. The Argentine struggled mightily at LaCantera, despite calm conditions favorable for scoring.
Coceres shot back-to-back 40s, which included a double on the front and a quad (and a double) on the back. The 8 came on the par-4 12th, where Coceres found the water on his approach shot from a fairway bunker and hit his next shot into a hazard again. He eventually found the green in six, hitting it to inside 5 feet, but needed a two-putt to get home.
Coceres, who has won twice on TOUR and eight times around the world, is coming off an injury-plagued year and playing this season on a Major Medical Extension. He needs to earn just over $612,000 in 12 events to regain full status. In four events so far, he's netted just over $14,000. -- Brian Wacker
GOYDOS IN WITH 63 (1:30 p.m.): It wasn't a course record, or even his personal best score, but Paul Goydos' 63 in the opening round of the Valero Texas Open was enough to grab the early lead.
Goydos had it going early, making the turn on the front nine in 29 with six birdies and no bogeys. He added two more on the back with a bogey on the difficult 439-yard, par-4 finishing hole his only blemish.
On the round, Goydos hit just half his fairways -- seven of 14 -- and 13 of 18 greens in regulation, which is certainly good but hardly great. The key to his round then? The ability to get up-and-down and only 24 putts. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Goydos' scorecard from today:
DUVAL'S DAY (1:22 p.m.): Former world No. 1 David Duval birdied his final hole on Thursday to shoot 66, which included a 31 on the front nine, his second of the day. Duval's 66 was only his fourth sub-70 round of the season and his first since the third round of the Northern Trust Open in Feburary. Duval also happened to make his last cut in L.A. -- the former British Open champ has missed six since. -- Helen Ross
COMEBACK CONTINUES (1:05 p.m.): The Lee Janzen comeback tour looks like it's continuing this week in Texas, at least so far. Janzen, who has finished outside the top 125 on the money list each of the past four years, is in with a opening-round 4-under 66 at LaCantera, where he's looking for another strong finish.
Janzen, who has finished in the top 17 in three of his last five events, including a T4 at the Verizon Heritage, is playing in this event for just the third time this decade, but looked strong Thursday. He hit just eight fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation, but had the flat stick rolling, taking 25 putts in a round in which he had eight birdies. Even though he had two bogeys and one double bogey, Janzen is in good position. -- Brian Wacker
RECORD LOOKS SAFE (12:43 p.m.): Paul Goydos is holding steady at 8 under as he plays the 16th hole and unless he does something spectacular -- certainly not out of the question given how he's played so far -- the course record of 60 should be safe.
Goydos had a golden opportunity to get his ninth birdie of the day on the par-5 14th, but wasn't able to convert his birdie putt from just over 8 feet after missing the green long on his approach. Goydos then made par on the 15th and will face two of the toughest holes on the entire course in 17 and 18, which are currently playing as the fourth- and sixth-hardest holes at the moment.
Nonetheless, it's good to see Goydos back on the leaderboard after all he's endured the last year or so. -- Brian Wacker
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS (12:20 p.m.): The way scoring is going so far today, especially for Paul Goydos and Greg Owen, Justin Leonard's words in his pre-tournament interview 
yesterday are looking a little prophetic, although they aren't that surprising given the history of red numbers thrown up at LaCantera.
Some snippets ...
Q. How does your mindset change, if at all, going from Players to here, just in terms of scoring where it's a premium, it seemed, as the week went along last week?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah. On the weekend, late in the day last week the golf course was very, very difficult. And you know, really taking a day off Monday, coming out yesterday, and being able to fire at a few flags and not worry about where the ball may bound to was nice today. You know, it doesn't take us too long to adjust. I think it's always easier going from a very difficult course to a course where you can shoot a fairly low score on versus going the other direction.
Q. Could you see a 59 being shot here where you wouldn't be shocked? Is it the type of course where it's going to happen, it could happen here?
JUSTIN LEONARD: It could. Yeah. Sure.
For the full interview transcript with Leonard, click here. -- Brian Wacker
BIRDIE ALERT (12 p.m.): Paul Goydos is going low ... really low. Goydos, whose career-low round is a 62, which he's shot twice, is tracking toward that right now with eight birdies through his first 13 holes at LaCantera.
Goydos closed out his front nine with five birdies in his last six holes on his way to a 29 and has since added two more on each of his last two holes to get to 8 under. The lowest round ever shot here is a 60 and with two more birdies (and no bogeys), Goydos can match that.
While he hasn't hit many fairways today -- not that he needs to here -- Goydos' ballstriking has been nearly flawless with 11 of 13 greens in regulation and one-putts on all but four greens.
It's been a rocky year for Goydos on and off the course, but a good week here would go a long way, especially since he's miss seven of 11 cuts this season. -- Brian Wacker
Follow Goydos' round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here and check out his scorecard so far below:
BABY ANNIKA? (11:45 a.m.): This is relevant of nothing that's happening in Texas this week, but when Annika Sorenstam announces she's having a girl this fall, it's pretty noteworthy. The Hall-of-Famer said today that everything looks good so far and that she's halfway home, if you will, in terms of the pregnancy. You can read the full story by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
CEJKA BACK AT IT (11:30 a.m.): Alex Cejka was clearly disappointed with his performance Sunday, but wasn't as down as you might think.
"I think I played better than 79," said Cejka, who is playing this week in San Antonio. "I got really unlucky. It was maybe not 69, but 73, but you know, that's the way golf sometimes is."
Not exactly sure Cejka played closer to 73 than he did his 79, but he's trying to move past it and focus on this week.
"You gotta go back on the horse again," Cejka said. "You take a lot of positive things with you from the week. You gotta keep knocking on the door a couple times and eventually it's going to open."
It just might not open this week for Cejka, who's also thinking about switching from a belly putter to a traditional length one he's been practicing with. So far today, Cejka is 3 over through his first seven holes. -- Brian Wacker
GOING LOW IN THE LONE STAR STATE (11:15 a.m.): There have been a bevy of low scores at the Valero Texas Open since the event moved to LaCantera GC in 1995, and we could be headed for an even lower winning score -- the four-day tournament record is 26-under 280 by Tommy Armour III in 2003 -- if the current pace keeps up.
Paul Goydos and Bill Haas are currently 6 under today ... and they're only through the first nine holes. Greg Owen is two shots back and Tim Herron is one of three players already 3 under and three off the pace. Of course, last week looked like we might have a really low winning score, too, until we got to the weekend. Something tells me we'll see a little more water being used at LaCantera, though.
As for the lowest single round shot on this course, that was a 60 shot by Bart Bryant in 2004. Bryant went on to win with a score of 19 under that year. -- Brian Wacker
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