The Daily Wrap-up: Round 1, Valero Texas Open
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Paul Goydos made eight birdies before his final drive sailed into a fairway bunker, blemishing what was almost an unmatched start with a 7-under 63 in the Valero Texas Open on Thursday.
"I mean, you can't have everything good happen for every moment of your life," Goydos said.
Goydos, who publicly opened up this month about the death of his ex-wife in January and raising his two teenage daughters, grabbed a share of the first-round lead with Justin Leonard. It's the first time since 1999 that Goydos has opened a tournament with at least a share of the lead.
Teeing off early in the morning, the 44-year-old Goydos had the lead for most of the day until Leonard birdied three of his last four holes in the afternoon. Leonard is pursuing a record fourth Valero Texas Open title, and hasn't been tied for first this early at LaCantera Club since his first win in 2000.
"When you tee off and you're seven shots back, I felt the need that I've got to make birdies because I don't want to have this huge deficit after one round," Leonard said. "I was able to get off to a great start. From then, being able to stay patient and give myself opportunities, I did a good of that today."
Goydos shot a 29 on the front nine, a stroke shy of a personal tour best through nine holes. Leonard's 63 was his best round in 11 tournaments here.
Jeff Maggert, Marc Leishman and Ted Purdy opened with 64s, and Englishmen Brian Davis and Greg Owen shot 65s.
Major winners David Duval, Lee Janzen and Corey Pavin were three strokes back. Duval's 66 was his best round since January 2007.
Zach Johnson, trying to defend his tournament championship from October, shot a 68 in the first Texas Open to tee off in the spring since 1969.
Goydos surged ahead with six birdies before the turn, including a 60-yard pitch on No. 8 that set up a 3-foot putt. The last time Goydos held at least a share of a first-round lead was the U.S. Open a decade ago.
Goydos stepped away from the tour this year after his ex-wife, Wendy, died unexpectedly. She had battled a drug addiction stemming from a bout with migraines.
He had kept private about Wendy and the girls, then gave his first interview for the May edition of Golf Digest. Others interviews have followed, and Goydos said he made "a conscious decision" to tell the story.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
| Other notables at the Valero Texas Open | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Thursday's Best |
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The 665-yard par-5 first hole was easiest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.673.
The 494-yard par-4 fifth hole was toughest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.397.
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Marco Dawson made a spectacular escape from the trees on the 18th to set up a short birdie putt. 
Paul Goydos shot the same as Justin Leonard, but Goydos' round featured a front-nine 29 and one more birde. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||||||||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Brett Wright offers these observations from Thursday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
The Valero Texas Open moved from fall to spring on this season's PGA TOUR schedule and with the change came a whole new set of variables for the best players in the world. In the spring, the wind blows a different direction; it comes out of the south. That affects more than a few holes. For example, the opening hole is a 665-yard par-5 that traditionaly plays downwind and downhill. Now, the first plays into the wind with a severe left-to-right bias. Many players could navigate the long hole in two shots before, now that is a much more difficult task.
Brian Davis, who shot a 5-under par, never takes a practice putting stroke. He says he likes to walk the distance and feel the putt in his feet, than just get over the ball and let his feel take over. It has worked well for Davis, who has shot even par or better in his last 13 rounds on TOUR, including an opening 5-under-par 65 in Round 1 here in Texas.
Greg Owen did something before this tournament that several other players probably did as well. He took out the 5-wood and replaced it with a 2-iron. This move allows him more control by keeping his ball flight under the wind. With the greens already baking out to a fine shade of brown, and the windy conditions, trajectory control is the key to scoring here at LaCantera.
FIRST-ROUND NOTEBOOK: VALERO TEXAS OPEN
By Mark Stevens, PGA TOUR Staff
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).
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
| This week's Kodak Challenge hole | |
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| This week at the Kodak Challenge hole | ||||||||||||||
| Round-by-round statistics on the par-4 16th at LaCantera | ||||||||||||||
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| Live Essentials | ||||
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