Hunter Haas off to a great start at the Valero Texas Open – Golf News
Hunter Haas fired a bogey-free six-under par 66 in the opening round of the Valero Texas Open, finishing three strokes off the pace set by Matt Every, at the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio.
He carded a total of four birdies and a spectacular eagle on the par-five 18th hole to take the second spot on the leaderboard.
“It's nice to finish off a round like that,” he said. “It's been awhile. I've had a few good rounds this year and keep doing the rest of the week”.
Prior to the tournament, speculations were being made that the course will offer a tough competition to the players appearing in the event.
Last year’s champion Brendan Steele earned his maiden victory on the PGA Tour by carding an eight-under par tournament score.
This year, the score has been beaten in the very first round by Matt Every, who managed to register a course record of nine-under par 63.
“Sometimes you get on courses and it just seems like it's hard to make birdies, but this course seems like I got the ability to get it in place, get it down the fairway and get on the green and make birdies,” Haas said.
“They slowed the greens down from last year and that's actually made, I think, play a little bit easier but it is blowing a little bit. Just enough where it's affecting shots out there,” he added.
Haas has played a total of 10 events this year on the PGA Tour. However, he succeeded in making the cut only four times. In addition to that, his best finish came in the Mayakoba Golf Classic, where he tied for the 37th position.
This time in Texas, he has a quite different attitude towards the game. He is more focused on his putting, as he only made 27 putts on Thursday.
With this type of performance in the remaining rounds, he can definitely surge to the top of the leaderboard to earn his first PGA Tour victory.
Meanwhile, Brendan Steele, the defending champion, carded a one-over par 73 to tie for the 61st position.
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