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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2021
First Round Notes
Weather: Mostly sunny. High of 70. Wind ENE 10-20 mph.
First-Round Leaderboard
| Camilo Villegas | 64 | (-8) |
| Sung Kang | 66 | (-6) |
| Cameron Tringale | 66 | (-6) |
| Jordan Spietd | 67 | (-5) |
| Seung-Yul Noh | 67 | (-5) |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 67 | (-5) |
Things To Know
Camilo Villegas opens with 64 and holds two-stroke lead, his second 18-hole lead/co-lead of the season (T6/The RSM Classic)
Villegas holed out for birdie from 38 feet, 3 inches on his last hole of the round (No. 9)
Jordan Spieth records a 5-under 67, his lowest score in 19 rounds at the Valero Texas Open
Spieth has carded under-par scores in the first round of each of his last seven stroke-play events on TOUR
Seung-Yul Noh (T3) entered the week with 18 starts remaining on his Major Medical Extension to earn 297.425 FedExCup points
Phil Mickelson records a 10 at No. 18, tying the second-highest score on a hole of his PGA TOUR career
First-Round Lead Notes
| 0 | First-round leaders/co-leaders to win tde Valero Texas Open since it moved to TPC San Antonio in 2010 (most recent first-round leader to win tde event: Robert Gamez/2005) |
| 5 | First-round leaders/co-leaders to win in 2020-21 (most recent: Matt Jones/The Honda Classic) |
Camilo Villegas (1st/-8)
| Category | Entering the week |
|---|---|
| Age | 39 (January 7, 1982) |
| FedExCup | 118 |
| OWGR | 314 |
| Starts at Valero Texas Open | 5 |
| Wins at Valero Texas Open | 1 |
| Top-10s at Valero Texas Open | 0 |
| Career PGA TOUR starts | 338 |
| Career PGA TOUR wins | 4 |
| Career PGA TOUR top-10s | 40 |
| PGA TOUR starts in 2020-21 | 14 |
| PGA TOUR wins in 2020-21 | 0 |
| PGA TOUR top-10s in 2020-21 | 2 |
Holds a two-stroke lead, his second 18-hole lead/co-lead of the season; first: co-lead, The RSM Classic (finished T6)
13th career 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR; 2-for-12 to date converting to victory (wins: 2008 BMW Championship, 2014 Wyndham Championship)
Holed out for birdie from 38 feet, 3 inches on his last hole of the round (No. 9)
Major Medical Extension expired after The Honda Classic, where he finished T8; now eligible to play the remainder of the season out of the 126-150 category (32. 126-150 Prior Season's FedExCup Points List)
Enters the week at No. 118 in the FedExCup standings with two top-10s in 14 starts (T6/The RSM Classic, T8/The Honda Classic)
Four-time PGA TOUR winner: 2008 BMW Championship, 2008 TOUR Championship, 2010 The Honda Classic, 2014 Wyndham Championship.
Jordan Spieth (T4/-5)
5-under 67; lowest score in 19 career rounds at the event (previous: 68, three times; most recent: R2/2019)
Has opened seven consecutive stroke-play starts on TOUR with under-par first-round scores, his longest streak since he had eight straight between the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons
Last seven R1 scores on the PGA TOUR
| Tournament | R1 score | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 Valero Texas Open | 67 (-5) | TBD |
| 2021 THE PLAYERS Championship | 70 (-2) | T48 |
| 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational | 70 (-2) | T4 |
| 2021 The Genesis Invitational | 68 (-3) | T15 |
| 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am | 65 (-7) | T3 |
| 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open | 67 (-4) | T4 |
| 2021 Farmers Insurance Open | 69 (-3) | MC |
Made seven birdies, his 74th round on TOUR with seven or more birdies since the start of the 2012 season (most on the PGA TOUR in that span)
Most rounds with seven or more birdies on the PGA TOUR since start of 2012 season
| Player | Rounds |
|---|---|
| Jordan Spieth | 74 |
| Justin Thomas | 71 |
| Rory McIlroy | 67 |
| Dustin Johnson | 67 |
Ninth career PGA TOUR start with a score of 4-under or better on his first nine holes of the first round; two wins in the previous eight instances
Results after opening-nine score of 4-under or better on the PGA TOUR
| Tournament | Opening nine score | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 Valero Texas Open | -5 | TBD |
| 2020 Travelers Championship | -4 | T54 |
| 2019 the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide | -4 | T7 |
| 2018 Travelers Championshipn | -4 | T42 |
| 2017 BMW Championship | -4 | T7 |
| 2017 Travelers Championship | -4 | Won |
| 2016 Vivint Houston Open | -4 | T13 |
| 2015 The Open Championship | -5 | T4 |
| 2015 Masters Tournament | -4 | Won |
Making sixth start in the event and has two prior top-10 finishes (10th/2014, 2nd/2015)
Four top-10 finishes in last six starts on TOUR: T4/Waste Management Phoenix Open, T3/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, T4/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, T9/WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (eliminated in Round of 16)
Additional Player Notes
Sung Kang (T2/-6) earned his lone PGA TOUR victory in the state of Texas (2019 AT&T Byron Nelson in Dallas)
Cameron Tringale (T2/-6) leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (5.126); making 11th start at the event and has two prior top-10s (T5/2011, T8/2012)
Seung-Yul Noh (T4/-5) entered the week with 18 starts remaining on his Major Medical Extension to earn 297.425 FedExCup points; Noh took a break from the TOUR from the fall of 2017 until January 2020 for his mandatory two-year military commitment, required of all males in South Korea between the ages of 18 and 35
Hideki Matsuyama (T4/-5) is making his tournament debut
In his first round since a runner-up at last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Scottie Scheffler (T7) records a 4-under 68; Scheffler has made one prior start at the event, finishing T20 on a sponsor exemption in 2019
Phil Mickelson (T139/+7) records a 10 at No. 18, tying the second-highest score on a hole of his PGA TOUR career
Course Statistics:
| Round | Toughest Hole | Easiest Hole |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | Par-4 1st (4.444) | Par-5 14th (4.549) |
| Round | Front 9 | Back 9 | Total | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 36.847 | 36.521 | 73.368 | -- |
Bogey-free rounds:
R1 (1): Kyle Stanley (71)
ABOUT VALERO
Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, “Valero”), is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels and petrochemical products. Valero is a Fortune 50 company based in San Antonio, Texas, and it operates 15 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.2 million barrels per day and 13 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.68 billion gallons per year. The petroleum refineries are located in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and the ethanol plants are located in the Mid-Continent region of the U.S. Valero also is a joint venture partner in Diamond Green Diesel, which operates a renewable diesel plant in Norco, Louisiana. Diamond Green Diesel is North America’s largest biomass-based diesel plant. Valero sells its products in the wholesale rack or bulk markets in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland and Latin America. Approximately 7,000 outlets carry Valero’s brand names. Please visit www.valero.com for more information.
ABOUT VALERO IN THE COMMUNITY
Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, “Valero”), and the Valero Energy Foundation are committed to improving the quality of life in communities where Valero has major operations. For a seventh consecutive time, Valero was named to The Civic 50 list by Points of Light as one of America’s most community-minded companies – the top energy company on the list. In 2019, Valero, its employees and the foundation collectively generated more than $64 million in charitable support through direct/in-kind donations, fundraising and volunteerism. Valero employees log close to 150,000 volunteer hours each year for hundreds of projects in their communities. The foundation provides funding to a variety of nonprofit agencies for programs and services supporting education, basic human needs, health care and civic projects. Through the overwhelming support of sponsors, the foundation’s signature programs, the Valero Texas Open and Benefit for Children, generated more than $14 million in net proceeds in 2020 for charities across the United States.
ABOUT THE VALERO TEXAS OPEN
The Valero Texas Open is the sixth-oldest professional tournament in golf worldwide, the third-oldest on the PGA TOUR and the longest held in the same city. In 2022, the tournament will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Its list of champions includes some of the greatest names in golf history: Walter Hagen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Lee Trevino, Nick Price, Justin Leonard, Zach Johnson, Adam Scott, Jimmy Walker and 2019 champion Corey Conners, to name a few.
Since Valero became title sponsor in 2002, the tournament has become a leader in charitable fundraising among PGA TOUR events. The Valero Texas Open, together with its Benefit for Children and Champions fore Charity initiatives, has contributed more than $171 million to hundreds of worthy charities since inception.. Please visit www.ValeroTexasOpen.com for more information.
Media Contacts
Stephanie Sage
Valero Texas Open
Director of Marketing & Community Relations
210.345.3839 office
Lee Patterson
Valero Texas Open
Director of Media Relations
704.913.1088 mobile
Lillian Riojas
Valero Energy Corporation
Executive Director, PR & Creative Services
210.345.5002 office
