SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Mark Hubbard was bold all the way to the end, taking on a creek at the par-5 18th and converting his sixth birdie over his final eight holes Thursday to post a 7-under 65 at dark for one-shot lead in the storm-delayed opening round at the Valero Texas.
Hubbard broke out of six-way tie for the lead that included Tony Finau, among dozens of players hopeful of a win to get into the Masters next week.
He was in the middle of the pack
when Hubbard began his remarkable finishing kick on the Oaks course at the TPC San Antonio. He made a 25-foot birdie putt sandwiched between a pair of birdies from the 6-foot range. He got up-and-down on the par-5 14th for a fourth straight birdie.
He also hit it tight to 6 feet for birdie on the par-3 16th. And moments before the horn sounded to stop play, Hubbard drilled a fairway metal from the rough over the winding creek in front of the green about 30 yards short of the flag. He pitched to 3 feet for his last birdie.
The round was delayed about 90 minutes at the start because of dangerous weather in the area, with 24 players having to complete the round Friday morning. That shouldn't affect the timing of the second round.
Finau is trying to pull his game together, falling to No. 107 in the world. He is not eligible for the Masters for the first time since 2017, and this is his last chance. There have been stretches of good golf, and Finau is hopeful of a few more days of this.
It didn't start off great. He had to make a 7-foot par putt on No. 10, his opening hole. He had to chip to tap-in range on the 11th.
“And then I was kind of on my way after that,” said Finau, who holed a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 14th hole that sent him on his way to a 66.
He was joined by Andrew Putnam, Steven Fisk, Davis Thompson and Robert MacIntyre, who birdied his last two holes. MacIntyre is the only one in that group who already is in the Masters.
The large group at 67 included some players tuning up for Augusta National, some just hopeful of a tee time. Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Aberg and Maverick McNealy are in the Masters. Among those on the outside is Will Zalatoris, who already has gone through three back surgeries as he tries to play his way back into form.
All of them caught the TPC San Antonio in benign conditions with very little wind, and morning rain that not only softened the course but led officials to allow for preferred lies.
It was still a big deal to Zalatoris, despite two late bogeys in his round of eight birdies.
“The reality is that I’m 10 months removed from basically having my back reconstructed,” Zalatoris said. “If I’m complaining about just a little thing here and there, I’ll still take it. The patience game is obviously brutal because it’s even like a day like today, where I make eight birdies, and we’re still talking about it, but that’s been my last three years.”
Jordan Spieth is trying to clean up the way he finishes rounds — a pair of closing double bogeys at The Players Championship, more dropped shots at the end of Valspar Championship. And then on Thursday, he was on the verge of a birdie-birdie finish until missing a 7-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole and then missing the 30-inch par putt.
The bogey gave him a 71.
Austin Smotherman is having a week he won't forget after his 68. It started with news that his wife gave birth to their third daughter, even though he had to watch it remotely.
Smotherman had a plan to catch a short flight home to Dallas is his wife went into labor. What he didn’t plan on was the timing. His wife went into labor about 9:30 p.m. on Monday. Grace Elizabeth was born two hours later.
“I was stuck here in the hotel watching on FaceTime,” Smotherman said. “It happened so fast we couldn’t get back in time, driving or flying.”
There were no flights, and to make the four-hour drive to Dallas would have put somewhere around Waco when the baby was born. But daughter and wife are doing well, and she has family to help.
And then his week took another happy turn. Smotherman hit 6-iron on the 220-yard 13th hole for a hole-in-one, leading to a solid round that left him two shots off the lead.
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