Leonard, Valedictorian of the Valero Texas Open, is back

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Justin Leonard is one man who can tell you about change he truly believes in. Many times, the most meaningful changes come from within.

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Ryder Cup success was a big part of a comeback for Justin Leonard.

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After missing his sixth cut in as many starts at the PODS Championship to begin the 2007 season, Leonard knew he needed to shake up things or face a lot more two-day work weeks. He had not won since the 2005 FedEx St. Jude Classic, and he had dropped out of the top 200 in the Official World Golf Ranking after beginning the season 145th.

"Really, probably the lowest point for me was missing my sixth cut in a row last year in Tampa," the former British Open champion said recently. "That night, I kind of decided I needed to make some changes."

So he parted ways with Butch Harmon and went back to his old instructor, Randy Smith. He started working with psychologist Richard Coop. At his next start, he brought on Brian Smith as his new caddie. And he tried not to think about anything but playing good golf.

"I stayed away from looking at the World Rankings and all that stuff, but when you're out on the golf course, you sign your card; you know what you shoot every day," Leonard said. "So it was pretty hard not to pay attention and focus on those results."

When Leonard tees it up this week at the Valero Texas Open, the Dallas native won't mind looking back on results since he cleared the deck. He's won twice, risen to 23rd in the world and was a key player for the U.S. team in its stirring Ryder Cup victory over Europe last month at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

One of Leonard's two victories came at the Resort Course at La Cantera Golf Club in San Antonio. Leonard defeated Jesper Parnevik in a playoff for his third victory in the event, tying him with Arnold Palmer for most titles in the tournament established in 1922.

Leonard has been a one-man dynamo at La Cantera, posting six top-10s that include a pair of runner-up finishes in addition to his three victories in 2000, '01 and '07. He has missed the cut just once while shooting a combined 121-under par in his 10 appearances. Last year, he suffered just two bogeys on the way to shooting 19-under 261 at the par-70 layout that measures just 6,881 yards -- one of the shortest on TOUR.

He'll have plenty of good competition for this week's $4.5 million event, the third in the PGA TOUR's Fall Series. Leonard is one of eight major champions in the field, and of the top 70 players in the FedExCup rankings who made it through the first three events of the recent PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, 27 are teeing it up alongside him. Four played in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca Cola -- Leonard, Chad Campbell, Briny Baird and Ryuji Imada.

FALL SERIES NOTES:

The third oldest event on the PGA TOUR, the Valero Texas Open is moving into the FedExCup Season next year, likely in a May date that would bring it into a scheduling cluster with the HP Byron Nelson Championship and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial as part of a vaunted Texas Swing. It is replacing the AT&T Classic in Atlanta, which is being dropped from the schedule. The Valero Texas Open was contractually promised the first open slot in the event that an opening occurred.

Beckman

Two players with San Antonio ties -- Cameron Beckman and Jimmy Walker -- need big weeks at home; both men are outside the top 125 on the PGA TOUR money list. Beckman has earned $278,211 after missing the cut at Turning Stone Resort Championship and ranks 173rd in earnings. Walker, who tied for 73rd at Turning Stone, is 219th with $185,219.

Jesper Parnevik, 137th on the money list, decided to withdraw from the Turning Stone Resort Championship on Saturday morning with one hole left in his second round and three strokes outside the cutline. If he was saving himself for the Valero Texas Open, that wasn't a bad idea since he was runner-up to Leonard last year.

Chris Stroud also withdrew from the Turning Stone Resort Championship with a wrist injury. He, too, enjoyed a good outing at La Cantera last year, tying for sixth in his tournament debut.

Verplank

Love

Though he hails from Dallas, Scott Verplank will be making just his fifth career start in the Valero Texas Open and his first since 2003 when he tied for 59th -- his only finish in the money.

Leonard has the shiniest record at La Cantera Golf Club with his three victories, but another Texan -- Bart Bryant -- holds the current course record; he shot 60 in the 2004 edition. And a third Texas boy, Tommy Armour III, put together a tournament-record 254 in '03, which also is the TOUR's 72-hole scoring record.

Fresh off his best showing of the season at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, where he tied for third, Davis Love III heads to the Valero Texas Open with renewed confidence. The former PGA champion has never won in Texas, but, of course, he hasn't played much in the Lone Star State either. He's making his first trip to San Antonio since 1989 when the event was played at Oak Hill Country Club. Love tied for ninth, winning $15,000 -- or slightly more than players who tied for 44th in '07.

England's Luke Donald, out since the U.S. Open with a wrist injury that required surgery Aug. 12 and forced him to miss two majors and the Ryder Cup, has entered Tiger Woods's Chevron World Challenge in December. Jon Wagner, his agent at IMG, said Donald, who has slipped only eight spots, from 17th to 25th, in the Official World Golf Rankings despite his inactivity, plans to start hitting balls in November.