Sam Ryder was unsure if his neck would feel comfortable enough to play in the Valero Texas Open on Thursday. In the last tournament before the Masters, he found a swing and barely missed a putt on route to a 9-under 63 and a one-shot lead over Keith Mitchell.
On the par-5 eighth hole, Mitchell went bogey-free in the morning, highlighting a 3-wood from 286 yards that stopped rolling roughly 3 feet from the pin for a tap-in eagle.
Brian Harman, a former Open champion, shot 66.
As always entertaining, Jordan Spieth was in the group at number 67. During his play, he hit a drive nicely on the seventeenth hole, embedding a rock around four inches behind his golf ball. He hit it to 12 feet with crisp contact and made the birdie putt.
Having qualified for all 9 of his tournaments this year, Ryder was forced to leave the pro-am on Wednesday due to a pain at the nape of his neck. After resting in his accommodation all day, he arrived at the course almost three hours prior to his scheduled tee time to check his swing.
He was able to. He was also able to putt.
Including the final three, Ryder one-putted on 11 of his last 12 holes, seven of which were birdies. At the TPC San Antonio, he hammered a wedge to a foot on the par-5 final hole after making a 25-foot putt on the 16th and a 12-footer on the 17th.
“All I was doing was attempting to gauge my swing. I believe it enabled me to remain true to myself now. I was simply content to play.” Ryder said.
If Ryder wins ; something he hasn’t done on the PGA TOUR yet ; he would be one of the players who could head directly to the Masters the following week.
Upon seeing Mitchell at 64 in the morning, he was quite taken aback.
“Anything below average is typically fairly excellent out here, I reasoned. I didn’t go in intending to be more aggressive or anything; instead, I was simply wanting to keep moving forward, hit as many fairways and greens as I could, and have a good round.” he said.
Mitchell hasn’t won on the PGA TOUR in six years, and he’s not competing in the Masters either. Mitchell began with a score of 65 or below for the third time this year. The issue has been getting it finished.
“My game has been popular. I want to assemble some sturdy rounds. I hope it happens this week. I’m going to try to stack them all up this week since I feel that my scores, at least in the first few rounds lately, indicate that my game is where it should be.” he said.
According to Mitchell, the eagle was the result of both good fortune and a strong swing.
“I reasoned that if I struck it well, it would at least cover the front before rolling out to the slope’s base. The fact that I got the ball to stop up there is quite fortunate; I wouldn’t say it happened by mistake because I was aiming for that pin, which is challenging even with a wedge and from around the green.” Mitchell said.
Since June, Harman has not been in the top 10 in 15 consecutive tournaments, and since winning The Open Championship at Hoylake in 2023, he has only achieved two other top 10 finishes. He is in danger of dropping out of the world’s top 50.
“My bad days haven’t been great, and my good days have been good enough to win, On those days, you have to find a way, and I usually excel at gritting my teeth and finding a way to finish tasks.” Harman remarked.
Max Homa, meanwhile, ran the risk of continuing his slump by missing another cut. After splitting from his swing coach last autumn, he declared that he had split from caddie Joe Greiner.
