Murray edges clear at Texas Open; Park leads in LA
LOS ANGELES: Grayson Murray ired a ive-under-par 67 to claim a one-shot lead after the irst round of the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio on Thursday.
The 24-year-old from North Carolina, chasing only his second career win on the PGA Tour, edged clear of the field thanks to some long putting and solid iron play on the par-72 TPC San Antonio Oaks course.
The American got off to a dream start, opening with back-to-back birdies on his first two holes before a superb chip from the fairway gave him a birdie tap-in on the fifth to move to three under.
His round threatened to come apart on the par-three seventh, when he needed three shots to get onto the green before two-putting for a double-bogey five.
However Murray came storming back on the back nine, draining a 28-foot putt on the 11th for a birdie and then sinking another long putt on the 13th to move back to three under.
Two more birdies on the 17th and 18th saw him finish at five under, setting him up to challenge for his second title following a breakthrough win at the 2017 Barbasol Championship in his rookie season.
Five players were tied for second, a shot off the lead on four under, including Chesson Hadley, Billy Horschel, Ryan Moore, Keegan Bradley and Matt Atkins.
Five players -- Andrew Landry, Jon Curran, Harris English, Joshua Creel and Mexico’s Roberto Diaz -- were tied for seventh on three under, two off the lead.
A cluster of nine players, including Zach Johnson and Brandt Snedeker, were on two under after carding 70s.
PARK ON TOP IN LA
South Korea’s Park In-bee fired a five-under par 66 to grab on a one stroke lead after the first round of the USLPGA Tour’s inaugural LA Open on Thursday.
Park rolled in four straight birdies beginning at the par-three No. 12 and is one shot ahead of American Marina Alex at the Wilshire Country Club course.
“I played really well out there. Especially being the new golf course. I didn’t know how it was going to play,” Park said.
“The course played really good. Really suited me. I putted well out there, so I was really happy with that.”
A large group is just two shots adrift of Park at three-under par, including Swede Pernilla Lindberg, Lexi Thompson, Caroline Inglis, Aditi Ashok, Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn, Ji Eun-hee and Emma Talley of the US.
Park decided to switch back to her old putter for this event after trying out a new one in recent weeks.
“Last week was just an awkward week where I missed a lot of short ones, and I wasn’t really comfortable with the putter,” Park said.
“I just wanted to have a different look, so I changed it.”
Park tees off on Friday with playing partners Thompson and Anna Nordqvist.
Alex, who is seeking her first Tour win, shot four-under 67.
Alex got off to a hot start with consecutive birdies. She added three more, off-set by one bogey, to make the turn in 31.
“I putted really, really well today,” Alex said. “I made a lot of the putts that I shouldn’t, I wouldn’t have expected to make.”