Murray rebounds at the Texas Open
After struggling at RBC Heritage, takes early 1st-round lead with 67
A week after missing the cut in the RBC Heritage, Grayson Murray shot an opening 5-under-par 67 to take the early lead in tough conditions in the Valero Texas Open on Thursday.
Murray, a 24-year-old who played at Wake Forest and Arizona State, had seven birdies and a double bogey on the par-3 seventh hole on the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio. Since turning pro in 2015, Murray has one PGA Tour victory, the 2017 Barbasol Championship. The tournament, which was in Opelika, Ala., last year, is played the same week as the British Open.
At Hilton Head last week, Murray said he struggled with poor ball-striking while missing the cut in the RBC Heritage. He worked on his swing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and it paid off.
“I’m starting to strike it a lot better,” he said. “Last week I was hitting one club, I mean I was hitting each club 10 yards shorter than I normally do, and you can’t play like that because your caddie is trying to give you a number and a club and you keep hitting these bad shots or keep coming up short. I got back to kind of the basics with the setup and the takeaway, got my club in a better position at the top, which kind of frees my downswing, then I can start going at it.”
The wind continued to pick up as Murray’s round progressed. “I was playing with Aaron Baddeley and Graeme McDowell and it seemed like we all three would kind of back off of shots and kind of restart,” said Murray, who teed off at 7:50 a.m. local time. “It was tough to kind of get over the ball and feel confident that you knew you had the right club in your hand.”
Chesson Hadley, who also played in the morning, was one shot behind Murray with a 68. Among others tied for second at 68 were Billy Horschel, Ryan Moore and Keegan Bradley.
Murray, who is ranked No. 108 in the world, has been inconsistent at times this season, tying for eighth in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and missing the cut in his next two starts.
“When I get off, it’s never far off, but it seems like I’m always searching for something and then I start compensating and then I create a new bad habit,” he said. “Ball striking for me gives me confidence with every other club in my bag when it comes to putting or chipping or anything. I know if I hit it well, those parts of the game are going to be good, too.”
Park leads: Carding four consecutive birdies, Inbee Park shot 5-under-par 66 to take the early lead in the LPGA’s Hugel-JTBC Championship in Los Angeles. Playing alongside Park and Anna Nordqvist, American Lexi Thompson was among players who shot 68.
Park, who has 19 career LPGA victories, tied for second in the ANA Inspiration, the first major of the season. Last week she tied for third in the Lotte Championship.