Leonard, Goydos share Texas Open lead

San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Justin Leonard and Paul Goydos both shot seven-under 63s on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Texas Open.
Leonard, the three-time Texas Open champion, chipped in from 62 feet for a birdie at the 18th hole to tie Goydos for the lead. “A very good finish,” said the Dallas-born Leonard. Goydos knocked his drive at the 18th hole into a fairway bunker and made his only bogey of the round. “I kind of made a mess out of the last hole,” said Goydos, “but all in all it was a good day.” Jeff Maggert, Marc Leishman and Ted Purdy are tied for third place behind the co-leaders at six-under 64, while Englishmen Brian Davis and Greg Owen share sixth at five-under 65. Former major champions Lee Janzen, David Duval and Corey Pavin are part of a large group at four-under 66. Defending champion Zach Johnson opened with a two-under 68 and is tied for 32nd place. Johnson won last year’s Texas Open when it was part of the PGA Tour’s Fall Series. Goydos looked to have a stranglehold on first place after posting his 63 in an early group. But Leonard, playing in an afternoon threesome, caught fire on his back nine, collecting four birdies over his final six holes to join him in the lead. Leonard drained a nine-foot birdie putt at the 16th to move within a stroke, then made his chip-shot at the 18th to tie Goydos. “When somebody goes out and shoots seven-under in the morning, in the afternoon you know you need to play a good round because you don’t want to have to play catchup too much,” said Leonard, who is looking to become the first four-time winner in tournament history. “I was able to stay patient.” Goydos scorched the front nine of La Cantera’s Resort Course for a sparkling 29. He collected six birdies in that span — but it was a par at No. 2 that really got things going. He knocked his tee shot into a bunker, then ended up 20 yards short of the green on his second shot. Left with a difficult up-and-down for par, Goydos pitched it to 10 feet and holed the putt. “And from that point on everything went pretty smoothly,” said Goydos. He cruised through the next 15 holes, making three straight birdies from No. 4, then back-to-back birdies twice — at the eighth and ninth and the 12th and 13th holes. But a messy 18th hole ended Goydos’ spotless round. He drove into a fairway bunker on the way to his only bogey of the day. “You can’t have everything good happen for every moment of your life,” said Goydos. A two-time PGA Tour winner, Goydos took a leave of absence at the beginning of this season following the sudden death of his ex-wife, Wendy, in January. He cares for their two teenage daughters. Thursday marked his best round of the season by three shots. “I’ve been on tour for 17 years. I’m sure there’s plenty of other people been on tour for 17 years who have had difficult times,” said Goydos. “It’s just something you have to deal with in life, and it’s part of the growing and maturing process, not only for me but for my girls, too.”

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