The good folks in San Antonio are breathing a little easier today.
Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler are in the hunt at the Valero Texas Open.
And the event needs them both to be around the lead come Sunday if this tournament wants to find itself relevant.
Spieth and Fowler shot four-under par 68s and were just two shots off the pace of first round leader Si Woo Kim.
Spieth expected the scores to be lower.
“These were ideal scoring conditions,” Spieth said after his round was over. “I’m surprised the scores weren’t lower. I just kinda plodded around today.”
What Spieth did do was show improvement. This season has been a massive struggle for him and on Thursday, he made just one bogey and that came at the par four 15th when he three-putted from 61 feet. Other than that, it was a better outing than what Spieth has seen most of the year. “Trying to get a little bit better each day,” he said.
Matt Kuchar, runnerup in last week’s WGC Match Play, put a 69 on the board. Tony Finau got off to a less-than-impressive start with an even par 72 at the TPC San Antonio.
Defending champion Andrew Landry shot 71.
