Monday Qualifiers: Valero Texas Open

JACKSON, Miss. – ‘Opportunity’ is a word used often at the Sanderson Farms Championship. The second event of the PGA TOUR season provides new players fresh off the Korn Ferry Tour the chance to gain experience, get a head-start in the FedExCup race and even earn that maiden victory and all the trappings that accompany it. The PGA TOUR’s newest members aren’t the only ones who can change the trajectory of their career during this time of year, though. Veteran players, the ones with majors and FedExCups on their resume, also appear on the tee sheets of these early events. Many are trying to recapture that winning feeling or at least gain some confidence before the calendar changes to a new year. Zach Johnson falls into that latter category. He’s competing in the Sanderson Farms Championship after a season that he simply describes as ‘frustrating.’ He hasn’t had a top-10 in this calendar year and missed the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time since they started in 2007. At 43 years old, the former Drake Bulldog still desires to be competitive on the PGA TOUR. And so he is battling the heat in Mississippi in search of the game that he still believes is in him. “I’m trying to treat each week as a phenomenal opportunity to get better,â€� Johnson said. “I’m trying to improve, rather than getting caught up in results or assessing aspects of my game.â€� The results were good Thursday. Johnson, who’s playing this event for the first time since 2005, shot 5-under 67 on Thursday. He is three shots behind leader Tom Hoge. “I just kind of plodded myself around and gave myself good opportunities. I had some I left out there, but certainly capitalized on a few as well,â€� Johnson said. “There was just nothing silly about it. I made one decent putt. For the most part, I kept the golf course in front of me, picked it apart when I could, and hit solid shots.â€� Johnson, who missed the cut in last week’s A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, made just one bogey Thursday. He hit half the fairway, but missed just five greens. The Georgia resident has had success throughout his career on Bermudagrass, and he found the old-school Country Club of Jackson to his liking. He gained nearly 1.5 strokes on the greens Thursday, holing a 30-footer on the fourth hole and making all 17 of his attempts from inside 10 feet. The statistics show that that club hurt him the most in 2019. He ranked 117th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-0.09). It was his first season that Johnson, who perennially ranked in the top 10 of that statistic, lost strokes on the greens. “The frustrating part from the summer on is the fact that I think I’ve been working really hard and I just haven’t seen the progress yet,â€� Johnson said. “But I think it’s coming. I’m confident it’s coming. I know what I’m doing, ball striking, short game, and on the putting green. It’s going to surface. Just a matter of when, not if.â€�

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SAN DIEGO – Jon Rahm is the world’s second-ranked player, winner of the most recent PGA TOUR event and the defending champion of this week’s Farmers Insurance Open. Under normal circumstances, Rahm would be the center of attention at Torrey Pines. This, of course, is not a normal week. Tiger Woods is playing his first PGA TOUR event in a year, and this return is buoyed by his optimism about a successful back fusion surgery. Rahm is content to let Woods steal the spotlight. “The more attention you guys have on Tiger, the better for me, quite frankly,â€� Rahm said Tuesday. “Hopefully I keep playing good and give you guys something to talk about, but it’s not bad that the attention’s on Tiger. It’s good for golf, it’s good for all of us.â€� While Woods was playing a practice round with Jason Day and Bryson DeChambeau on the South Course’s back nine, Rahm was on the back nine of the North Course. Rahm, who’s ranked second in both the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking, is the highest-ranked player in the field according to both metrics. He can move to No. 1 on both lists with a win this week, as well. Seve Ballesteros is the only Spaniard to reach No. 1 in the world. Rahm’s win at last year’s Farmers Insurance Open, which was made possible by a back-nine 30 punctuated by a 60-foot eagle putt, was the first of his PGA TOUR career. His second came Sunday at the CareerBuilder Challenge, in a dramatic four-hole playoff with Andrew Landry. “It’s a lot of things to process in very little time,â€� said Rahm, who has two wins and a runner-up in his previous three worldwide starts. The only player to whom he’s lost in that stretch is the same player he’s trying to supplant atop the world ranking, Dustin Johnson. Rahm’s winning putt from last year’s tournament at Torrey Pines followed has been shown countless times. It has appeared in PGA TOUR commercials, and photos of his emotional reaction afterward are on banners promoting the tournament. For Rahm, it’s just the second-best shot of his remarkable 2017, during which he won three times worldwide and finished fifth in the FedExCup. “The No. 1 shot or moment of last season was the second shot out of the bunker on 13,â€� Rahm said. “If I don’t put that ball on the green, which is actually a lot harder than making that putt, the back-nine charge would have never happened and this year might have never happened, so that shot is the one that made everything possible.â€� He hit 4-iron to 18 feet from the fairway bunker on the par-5 13th for the first of two eagles in the final six holes. He finished three shots ahead of C.T. Pan and Charles Howell III. “I certainly know I can win here because I’ve done it, I think that’s the difference,â€� Rahm said Tuesday. “I think I have the confidence that I can win here, whereas last year I knew I could but I still had to do it. I hope I don’t have to shoot 30 on the back nine to win again.â€� And, he can’t help but think about a potential Sunday showdown with Woods. Last year’s Farmers Insurance Open was just the second time Rahm and Woods have played in the same field (2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open). “Tiger getting in contention, it would be absolutely amazing,â€� Rahm said. “And to be honest, I think a lot of us dreamt about having the opportunity to maybe walk the back nine with Tiger in contention and have a battle hand-in-hand. It would be something amazing for any of us. I hope it happens for somebody. I hope I’m the one, and quite truly I hope I come out on top if it happens.â€�

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SAN ANTONIO — As Abraham Ancer answered questions from a Telemundo reporter, Ancer’s Answers, the fan club of the 28-year-old Texas native, waited patiently for the man of the hour.  “We’re here for you,” said one of the faithful when he finally approached. That much was quite clear from the light-blue T-shirts and navy-blue caps bearing his name and worn by approximately 15 friends, some of whom he said were members of TPC San Antonio. Ancer showed his appreciation with a simple expression of “Gracias!” before posing for selfies, a group shot and signing autographs. He did everything, but kiss babies. That’s because Jimmy Walker isn’t the only hometown hero at this week’s Valero Texas Open. Ancer has been a San Antonio resident for the past five years and lives mere miles from the course. He says he practices and plays at TPC San Antonio 70 percent of the time when he is home (his career-best is a 65 on the AT&T Oaks from the tips that he said was like shooting a 63) and he put that local knowledge to good use on Thursday. Related: Si Woo Kim opens with 6-under 66 | Fowler’s late equipment switch pays off | Spieth starts strong in San Antonio | Featured Groups, tee times | Insider: Former Valero champ Bowditch upbeat in return from back injury After an up-and-down start, Ancer came home in 31 to shoot 5-under 67 and trail first-round leader Si Woo Kim by one stroke. He ranked second in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and eighth in Strokes Gained: Putting. Ancer won the Australian Open by five strokes in November, but he’s still seeking his first PGA TOUR title. He’s also never played at Augusta National. Can he imagine killing two birds with one stone and doing it in front of friends and family in the city where he lives? “That would be amazing,” Ancer said. “But I’m going to keep my blinders on and keep going.”

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