Texas Open 2021 R1
April 01-04
TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course), San Antonio, Texas
$7,700,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Camilo Villegas started his round with a bogey at the par-4 10th before firing nine birdies to take the first round lead with an 8-under 64 at the Valero Texas Open.

Texas Open 2021 R1

Villegas has won twice on the PGA Tour, at the Tour Championship in 2008 and the Wyndham Championship in 2014, but recent years have been fraught with difficulty including the death of his young daughter last year. He has been on form recently with two top-10 finishes this year.

"Sometimes it goes your way, and sometimes it doesn't," said Villegas. "The last few years I've been up and down with many things. We keep showing up and the results start showing up."

Texas Open 2021 R1

Sung Kang's front nine consisted of two birdies and a bogey at the par-4 12th but an eagle at the par-5 2nd was followed by three more birdies to close with a 66 and tie for second place alongside Cameron Tringale.

"I played great today, but I didn't start off very good," said Kang. "I struggled a little bit with a new driver from the start, but I found a way to hit it on the back nine so started driving a lot better."

Texas Open 2021 R1

Jordan Spieth, who has had four top-10 finishes this year, made five birdies and a bogey on his front nine and another two birdies and a bogey on his final hole to close with a 67. He is tied in fourth place alongside Seung-Yul Noh and Hideki Matsuyama.

“I certainly would have signed up for 5-under starting out,” said Spieth. “Felt like I played some really nice golf on our front nine, the back nine. Then just kind of got a little loose off the tee on the front nine, our second nine, and was able to kind of make do."

“I hit some decent drives, ended up in iffy spots,” he continued. “Overall, just chipped and putted really well, which was the difference maker today. I didn't quite hit it as good as I have been.”

Texas Open 2021 R1

Last week's runner up, Scottie Scheffler, is tied in seventh place alongside Tom Hoge and Sebastián Muñoz after 68s.

"I made a few silly mistakes here and there, kind of two sloppy bogeys, but other than that, I felt like I played really solid," said Scheffler. "I was pretty frustrated bogeying a par-5 there towards the end of the round, so having a nice bounce back will give me some momentum and make me rest a little easier."

Texas Open 2021 R1