The Starter: Round 2, Valero Texas Open

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May. 14, 2010

FRIDAY DELAY/UPDATES: The start of the second round of the Valero Texas Open has been postponed due to an unsettled weather picture that includes heavy rain, abundant lightning and a tornado warning.

Play will begin Saturday at 7:10 a.m. CT and maintain the second round pairings schedule.

Showers and thunderstoms prevented play from starting Friday, but the outlook for Saturday, Sunday and Monday is much better. There is a 30 percent chance of showers on the weekend and 20 percent on Monday. Highs will be in the upper 80s.

Here's a look at Saturday's round:

Groups We're Watching
Tee time Players  
8:50 a.m. ET
No. 1
Justin Leonard, Steve Flesch, Charley Hoffman
Flesch and Hoffman are both in contention after shooting 69 and 68 respectively in the first round.
1:40 p.m. ET,
No. 10
Carl Pettersson, J.B. Holmes, Chris DiMarco
J.B. Holmes is in the hunt after turning around his first round with a birdie and eagle on the final two holes.
2:50 p.m. ET,
No. 10
Matt Jones, Tom Gillis, Blake Adams
Matt Jones is the Round 1 leader after setting the (early) course record with a six-under 66.

INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER: Steve Hanlon, head instructor at TPC San Antonio, analyzes the playing conditions this week:

tour-academy3.jpg

With the first round of the Valero Texas Open at the new TPC San Antonio finished, and the leader sitting at six under, the course was there Thursday for the taking. For most of the morning the winds were down and the greens were rolling a very comfortable speed. Driving the ball well rewarded you with some pretty straight forward approach shots to some pretty accessible pin locations.

Saturday's forecast

Partly cloudy
Temp: 87 high/71 low
Little chance of precipitation. Winds around 11 mph.

As I stated in my Round 1 report, I felt the keys to scoring around the new course were going to be driving accuracy and short game efficiency. Throughout Thursday's round inside the ropes those words held very true. Several birdies were made from less than spectacular approach shots and a few bogeys from stray tee shots. As one player said to me today, "this may be the toughest driving course I have played all year and actually in several years." I think it is also fair to say the same player made two birdies from some very difficult locations with some brilliant pitch shots.

At the TOUR Academy TPC San Antonio one of the things I believe in strongly is when assessing your lie and shot selection take as much air out of the shot as possible and get it on the ground quickly. When attempting to pitch a ball to the green I like to walk through a few important steps with my students. One, assess your lie as it will dictate what type of shot you can or can't play. Two, find out how much green you have to work with. Third, investigate whether the shot requires me to play this ball on a high trajectory. Remember the air is a variable in the short game. When playing the ball low you have a much better idea of how the ball will react and thus can eliminate strokes from your round. Follow the pros this week at the Valero Texas Open and watch as they play the short game closer to the ground.

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The Film Room
PGA TOUR Today
Matt Jones leads after round one at the 2010 Valero Texas Open. Casey Black looks at the challenges players face on a new course and previews what to expect for day two at TPC San Antonio. Watch it
Shot of the Day
Ernie Els, at the par-5 14th, hits out of the rough over 290 yards to within 1-foot of the hole and taps in for eagle. Watch it
First Round Highlights
Australian Matt Jones shoots an opening round 6-under-par 66 and has a 1-shot lead during first round coverage of the 2010 Valero Texas Open. Watch it
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