By Tim Price, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

SAN ANTONIO --- It's been talked about many times. Billy Horschel may have heard it but definitely didn’t listen in his first handful of starts on the PGA TOUR.

Don’t try too hard.

“I think that’s what the key was for me -- I tried too hard,” Horschel said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to play well, and I didn’t allow myself to be free and allow it just to happen.”

Horschel, 26, has gotten out of his own way. It has let the talent come to the surface for a player who was a member of the 2007 Walker Cup team and former NCAA All-American out of Florida. His 4-under 68 at the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio has him one shot off the lead at the Valero Texas Open.

He’s looking very good to make his TOUR-leading 21st consecutive cut. The streak started last June at the FedEx St. Jude Classic and he reached his high point last week with a tie for second behind D.A. Points at the Shell Houston Open.

“I think the run all started with me putting a little more time on a regular basis with my short game,” Horschel said. “I think with my ball-striking I haven’t had to worry too much about that. It’s just making the putts inside 10 feet on a more consistent basis, throwing in a couple of 15-20 footers a round.”

Horschel rammed that idea home when he dropped an 18-footer for birdie at No. 9, one of the tougher holes on the course when the north wind blows like it did Thursday. Horschel is 38th in strokes gained-putting in 2013, 109th in that category last year.

Overall, Horschel had 25 putts, which matched early afternoon co-leader Padraig Harrington. Also, like Harrington, he missed seven greens.

“I made a couple of good par saves early in my round to get the momentum going and not lose anything,” he said. “I could hit the ball a little bit better, but I did a good job of managing it and making a couple of putts.”

Dustin Johnson led the field in driving distance at nearly 320 yards at the Shell Houston Open.
(Halleran/Getty Images)

WEEKLY PERFORMANCE STATS ARCHIVE

Week 2: Sony Open in Hawaii

Week 3: Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation

Week 4: Farmers Insurance Open

Week 5: Waste Management Phoenix Open

Week 6: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Week 7: Northern Trust Open

Week 8: The Honda Classic

Week 9: WGC Cadillac & Puerto Rico Open

Week 10: Tampa Bay Championship presented by EverBank

Week 11: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard

For the second consecutive week, Billy Horschel led a field in strokes gained-putting. (Cohen/Getty Images)

WEEKLY PERFORMANCE STATS ARCHIVE

Week 2: Sony Open in Hawaii

Week 3: Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation

Week 4: Farmers Insurance Open

Week 5: Waste Management Phoenix Open

Week 6: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Week 7: Northern Trust Open

Week 8: The Honda Classic

Week 9: WGC Cadillac & Puerto Rico Open

Week 10: Tampa Bay Championship presented by EverBank

Week 11: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard

Week 12: Shell Houston Open

Billy Horschel has played six holes -- and birdied four straight -- to put his name at the top of the leaderboard as the first round of the Tampa Bay Championship presented by EverBank continues at Innisbrook Resort.

Tag Ridings and Brendan Steele are the leaders in the clubhouse after shooting 68s. Also at 3 under is Harris English, who has played seven holes in the afternoon.

Peter Tomasulo would have been tied wih Ridings and Steele but he bogeyed the ninth hole, which was his 18th of the day, for a 69. So he's tied with Chez Reavie, Vijay Singh, Dicky Pride and two-time champion K.J. Choi, all of whom have finished their first rounds.

Geoff Ogilvy, Sean O'Hair, Shawn Stefani, Steven Bowdich and 19-year-old Jordan Spieth, who tied for second last week at the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com, are also 2 under early in their afternoon rounds.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- At least the introductions have already been made.

Billy Horschel, who had just graduated from the University of Florida, made it a point to go up and thank Tiger Woods that day after the man who was then the world's No. 1 player had given him a sponsor's exemption to play in the AT&T National.

"He said I know you've had a pretty good college career and you've done pretty well," Horschel recalled. "Just keep doing what you're doing. You'll be fine, and you'll be out here in no time. So I thought that was something cool at the time."

Saturday will be even cooler. Although the two have talked on several occasions since, Horschel will play with Woods for the first time in the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open -- in the day's final pairing, no less.

Woods owns the lead at 11 under while Horschel is second, trailing by two after a solid 69 on the South Course that will host the final two rounds. Also in the final pairing is Casey Wittenberg, who has played with Woods three times, all in majors, and is among six players tied for third at 8 under.

Horschel knows the crowd following the final threesome will be huge. He's also heard that playing with Woods is easier than playing in front or behind him due to the way the fans scurry ahead to get a better view. He isn't worried one way or the other.

"It's nothing that I haven't dealt with before," Horschel said. "I've played the Walker Cup in 2007 over in Northern Ireland at Royal County Down and there was a guy I competed against three times called Rory McIlroy. So there may have been 10, 12,000 people following us, and only a couple thousand following the rest of the group. So I've dealt with crowds. ...
 
"He's one of the many golfers I've looked up to when I was a young kid, so I get to play with him. It's going to be nice."

The 28-year-old has been extremely steady over the first two rounds. Horschel ranks first in greens in regulation, hitting all but four, and second in fairways, finding 22 of 28. Granted, he took 31 putts on Friday but finished strong with three birdies over his last five holes.

The round of 69 was Horschel's 10 sub-par round in as many attempts this season. He had played 24 events combined on the PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour last year, including q-school where he tied for fourth to get his card back. A week spent snowboarding -- "I'm sort of addicted," Horschel said with a smile -- then the holidays put him in a refreshed frame of mind.

Once Horschel did start practicing again several days before New Year's, he and his instructor, Todd Anderson, who also works with last year's Farmers Insurance Open champion, Brandt Snedeker, decided their primary area of emphasis would be on putting. He spent four hours on the practice green on Wednesday and it appears to be paying off.

"We knew all along my putting was somewhere where I could improve greatly," Horschel said. "And there were just a couple of fundamentals and mechanical things that we worked on, and it's been something I've been really focusing on, spending more time on the putting green than on the driving range."

Horschel has also made it a point to stay focused on himself. He has quit reading golf magazines because the words tend to stay with him, and he uses Twitter sparingly. He tries not to look at leaderboards, too, so he can stay in the moment on the course.

"I need to be a little bit more selfish out here," Horschel said. "Not always talk a lot to everybody I see. I can talk your ear off for days and days. So whenever I see somebody, not going over there and talking 20 minutes while they're practicing and I'm not. So it's more or less just me focusing on what I need to do and taking care of my business and just go about it that way."

As he talked, Horschel's phone was vibrating as yet another text arrived. His task will more difficult on Friday night but the rewards could be great come Sunday.

Greenwood/Getty Images

2013 PGA TOUR preview: First-time winner? | Who will bounce back? | Top rookie? | Best of FEC top 5

Jason Day has exactly one win in 115 career starts. Look for him to have a Jason Dufner-style rise into the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking. -- Ryan Smithson, Site Producer     

Even though he won the Frys.com Open, Jonas Blixt is s till flying under the radar.  Despite missing time with a rib injury, Blixt posted 5 Top-10 finishes in his rookie season.  He was second on TOUR in Strokes Gained Putting and first in sand saves. -- Fred Albers, PGA TOUR Radio

The last time Phil Mickelson didn't win on TOUR was 2003. Will that change in 2013? Mickelson, who will turn 43 in June, is on the other side of his career, and he continues to battle psoriatic arthritis. I think he's due for a down year. -- Brian Wacker, Side Producer

Bo Van Pelt. He’s placed inside the top 30 in the final FedExCup standings each of the past three seasons. In 2012, he collected a TOUR high-tying 10 top 10s, and is one of the best putters (11th in strokes gained-putting) and one of the best drivers (3rd in total driving). This is the year where Van Pelt wins something big – maybe even the FedExCup. -- Bill Cooney, Site Producer

Gary Woodland. Making a swing change took its toll on one of the TOUR's biggest hitters in 2012. Hopefully he has it figured out by now. -- Mike McAllister, Managing Editor

Due to injury and limited status, Billy Horschel hasn’t had the opportunity to flash his talent over a full season since his debut in 2010. Now healthy and near the top of the opening reshuffle, it would be an upset if he didn’t convert with supreme confidence on top of what was an easy go at q-school that punctuated a quietly solid 2012. -- Rob Bolton, Fantasy Columnist

Gary Woodland. He was essentially a non-factor in 2012 after he was injured amdist a swing change, finishing 134th in FedExCup standings. He showed signs of life in the Fall Series with a T9 at the Frys.com Open, and I think he'll be back to winning-form this season. -- Anne Szeker, Site Producer

I was tempted to say Justin Rose but after eight-top 10s last year, including two in majors, nothing he does would be a surprise. So let's go with big-hitting Gary Woodland, who is fully recovered from that nagging wrist injury and rejuvenated after the hard work he's put in with Butch Harmon. -- Helen Ross, Chief of Correspondents

With a win at Wyndham and (sigh) the Ryder Cup, Sergio Garcia looked like a kid again. And he's only turning 32 on Jan. 9; he still has a lot of productive years ahead. I say this is one of them, with multiple wins. -- John Schwarb, Site Producer

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Billy Horschel has played just once since missing the FedExCup Playoffs.

The time off helped. So did the decision to hire a trainer.

“I've gained a little bit more speed in my swing that I lost when I had my wrist surgery,” said Horschel, who shot a 65 Friday to enter the weekend 10 under and in contention at the Frys.com Open. “I feel fitter and more comfortable with myself.”

He also feels comfortable at CordeValle. Last year, he opened with a 65 there before finishing in a tie for seventh.

Horschel also finished seventh in his only start -- in Boise, on the Web.com Tour -- over the last two months.

Friday, he made seven birdies and just one bogey, closing in 31 with five of his birdies coming over the final seven holes.

“I feel like I've done everything you need to do to finally step into that winner's circle,” said Hoschel, who is using a trainer for the first time since high school. “Obviously a lot of golf still left to play. I can't do anything but go out there and try and play my own game.”

Billy Horschel has spent much of the year bouncing back and forth between the PGA TOUR and the Web.com Tour.

Now he has a chance to get back to the former, full time.

Horschel shot 65 Friday at CordeValle, where he is 10 under and leads by one early in the second round of the Frys.com Open.

The former All-American out of the University of Florida also shot 65 there in last year’s final round on his way to a tie for seventh.

Friday, Horschel made seven bidies, including four in a five-hole stretch, and just one bogey.

Horschel entered the week 147th on the money list with his best finish a third-place finish in Mississippi his best result in 14 starts on TOUR. He also has two top 10s in seven starts on the Web.com Tour.

RENO, Nevada – Padraig Harrington threw out the ceremonial first pitch, while Lee Janzen, Chris DiMarco and Billy Horschel took batting practice prior to Monday’s night Pacific Coast League game between the host Reno Aces and the Sacramento River Cats.

With the PGA TOUR in town for the Reno-Tahoe Open, the Aces – the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks -- brought in Harrington and Janzen, who have combined for five major wins, along with DiMarco, who has multiple appearances for the U.S. on Presidents and Ryder Cup teams, along with one of the TOUR’s rising stars in Horschel.

Check out these photos from Monday ( photos courtesy of the Reno Aces):

Courtesy of Reno Aces

Padraig Harrington threw the first pitch to Aces catcher Konrad Schmidt (right).

Courtesy of Reno Aces

Lee Janzen (left) and Chris DiMarco (middle) tee off at the plate while Billy Horschel (right) shows his glove work.

Courtesy of Reno Aces

Usually their names appear on caddie bibs, but this time, the three PGA TOUR pros sported their own names on the backs of their jerseys.