Valero Texas Open: First-round notebook

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Paul Goydos fired a 29 on the front nine at LaCantera GC to match his personal-best nine-hole scoring record.

SAN ANTONIO -- Justin Leonard, going off in the afternoon wave, chipped in from 62 feet, 1 inch on the 18th hole to get to seven-under 63 and a tie for first with Paul Goydos after the first round.

• Paul Goydos matched his personal-best nine-hole score at this tournament with a six-under 29 on the front side. He wound up with a 63 and the tournament lead after the morning wave. Goydos also turned in a 29 in the final round at this event in 2000. Goydos' career-low, nine-hole score is a 28 at the 1999 Byron Nelson Championship.

• Prior to today, Justin Leonard had held the first-round lead/co-lead eight times in his career, with three of them leading to a victory (38%). Of Leonard's eight first-round leads/co-leads, he has finished in first or second five times (63%). Leonard was T1 at the 2000 Valero Texas Open after the first-round and went on to pick up the first of his three victories at this event.

• The last time Paul Goydos held a first-round lead/co-lead was at the 1999 U.S. Open (T12). His other two first-round leads came in 1996 at the NEC World Series of Golf (T23) and the Bay Hill Invitational (1st).

• Paul Goydos has competed in the Valero Texas Open 11 times previously, dating back to 1993, without ever having missed a cut. His best finish is T7 in 2003 and has seven top-25 finishes.

• Justin Leonard is making his 12th appearance in the Valero Texas Open and has three wins (2000, 2001 and 2007), two second-place finishes and nine top 25s. Leonard has now played 43 career rounds at this event. Prior to his 63 today, his previous low score was a 64, which he turned in five times.

• Ted Purdy turned in a six-under 64 and is in a three-way tie for third with Jeff Maggert and Marc Leishman. Purdy shot a 61 at the 2005 Valero Texas Open (T5) and a 64 at the 2005 Valero Texas Open (T48).

• Jeff Maggert turned in a 64, which is his best round since the 2008 Valero Texas Open when he shot a 64 in the third-round and finished T15.

• Marc Leishman, who tied for the 20th spot on the Nationwide Tour money list to qualify for the PGA TOUR, turned in his best round on TOUR with a 64. 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.

• Bill Haas accomplished something today that his father Jay Haas was not 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 two times. Jay's lowest career nine-hole score was a 30, which he accomplished six times.

• Jesper Parnevik teed off at 7:15 a.m. and shot an even-par 70 with his caddie Lance Ten Broeck. When they finished, Ten Broeck was notified that he could take David Berganio Jr.'s (WD/back) spot in the field at 1:45 p.m. Ten Broeck finished 1 over and is T83 after the first round. Ten Broeck's son caddied for him in the afternoon.

• Only two players have been able to successfully defend their titles so far in 2009, and it just happens to be the No. 1 and 2 ranked players in the world. Phil Mickelson defended his Northern Trust Open title, while Tiger Woods was able to defend his Arnold Palmer Invitational title. Otherwise, K.J. Choi's T12 was the best finish by a player trying to defend their 2008 TOUR win. During the 2008 TOUR season only three players were able to defend their 2007 titles (Tiger Woods-Buick Invitational, Boo Weekley-Verizon Heritage and Padraig Harrington-British Open). Zach Johnson won the 2008 Valero Texas Open only seven months ago and will try to become only the third player this season to defend. Below is a list showing how Johnson has fared in defending his TOUR titles:

• The Valero Texas Open has a history of scoring records, so a pair of nine-hole 29s by Paul Goydos and Bill Haas is nothing new to this event. Mike Souchak set the second-lowest nine-hole score in TOUR history at the 1955 Texas Open with a 27 at Brackenridge Golf Course. In 2003, Tommy Armour III set the TOUR's 72-hole scoring record at the Valero Texas Open with a 254 (26-under-par).

• David Duval recorded a 66 in the first-round, his lowest since he turned in a 66 at the 2007 Buick Invitational (93 rounds ago). Duval's last top-10 finish was at the 2002 Invensys Classic at Las Vegas (T6).

• Duval is making his sixth start at the Valero Texas Open, with two missed cuts and a best finish of T50 in 1995.

• So far this season, only five of 19 first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to victory. Last year, nine of 46 first-round leaders/co-leaders went on to victory.

• The morning-wave scoring average was 69.65, while the afternoon-wave scoring average was 71.18. There were four eagles in the first-round.

• Justin Leonard, Stephen Ames, J.J. Henry, Bob Estes, Tim Clark, Shaun Micheel, Patrick Sheehan and Briny Baird all turned in bogey-free rounds (8).

• Michael Bradley (back) and David Berganio Jr. (back) withdrew prior to the first-round.