Strong winds made short work of the field at the Texas Valero Open and seven players now hold the joint lead at 3 under par. On an uncharacteristically tough day at the San Antonio’s AT&T Oaks Course, only thirteen players were able to post scores of better
than 72.
The scoring average was 75.289, which is the highest on the PGA Tour ever since the Open Championship in 2008 at the Royal Birkdale, where the average score for the first round was 75.877.
First round leader Stewart Cink, who posted an impressive five under par 67 on the first day, tumbled down the leaderboard. He posted five bogeys and a triple bogey to finish the day with a score of 6 over par 78. American J.J Henry who had a share of the
lead on the first day fared the same and also posted a 78.
As things stand, a total of sixteen players are just two shots off the lead with only two days' play left. This would probably make the Valero Open one of the most hotly contended events on the PGA Tour this season.
The only non-American at the top of the leaderboard is Australian, Geoff Ogilvy. The former U.S Open champion managed a level par but was pretty happy with his score. He made three bogeys and a double bogey besides his five birdies, battling winds close
to 50 kph all day.
"I feel like I could have had maybe one or two better but I definitely could have had quite a lot worse. As soon as you miss one, there's a potential disaster on every hole.”
The winner of last year’s Valero Open and runner up of last week’s Masters, Adam Scott had a solid first round score of 4 under 68 and was tied for third but has now moved to two under after a second round score of 74 and is tied for eighth.
Angel Cabrera of Argentina, who at one point in the final round looked poised to win the Masters last week, failed to make the halfway cut despite recording a score of one under 71 on the first round. Another major winner, Mike Weir of Canada, also failed
to make the cut on this unforgiving day.
The golfers joining Ogilvy in the lead are former US PGA champion Rich Beem, and Kevin Sutherland, who shot a relatively better score of 70, Brandt Snedeker and Brendan Steele, who managed even pars, and Charlie Hoffman and Kevin Chappell, who went one over.
Adam Scott is joined by the American trio of Dean Wilson, Matt Every and Cameron Tringale in the tie for 8th.
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