Winners and Losers from the 2015 Valero Texas Open
The PGA Tour made its way to Texas this week, and the Lone Star State didn't exactly welcome the world's best golfers with open arms. Gone were the tranquil skies of the Florida swing. In their place: wind and a lot of it.
One golfer weathered the gusts much better than the rest: the guy in the picture above. Jimmy Walker played TPC San Antonio four strokes better than any other golfer to collect his fifth win in two years.
The late bloomer was the big winner in Texas this week. Who joined him? Click through to find out.
Winner: Jimmy Walker
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Jimmy Walker battled the winds in San Antonio and won.
Walker, who makes his home about 30 minutes from TPC San Antonio, entered the final round of the Valero Texas Open with a four-stroke lead.
In what turned out to be an anticlimactic Sunday, Walker fired a final-round 70 to win by four strokes.
The Baylor alum was among the top 10 Masters favorites at most sportsbooks entering the tournament. His Masters stock will only rise with the victory. Keep an eye on the tour's resident space photographer when he tees it up at Augusta.
Losers: A Few Good Clubs
2 of 7The Valero Texas Open's second round featured two very interesting golf-equipment malfunctions.
First, the head of Phil Mickelson's 8-iron snapped off as he hit out of a fairway bunker on the 12th hole.
Phil's face: priceless.
Then, the face of Troy Merritt's 2-iron caved in on the 11th hole. Merritt tweeted a picture of the wounded club.
The carnage.
Winner: The Wind
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The par-72, 7,435-yard AT&T Oaks Course is no picnic amid the mildest of conditions. During Thursday's opening round, players (particularly those who teed off in the morning) were greeted with gale-force winds. The gusts peaked at nearly 40 miles per hour.
Players who teed off in the morning averaged an astronomical 78.6 strokes, according to the PGA Tour. Afternoon players fared a bit better: 74.8.
To put that in perspective, the highest single-round scoring average on the PGA Tour since 1990 outside the majors, is 78.907 in the first round of the 1990 Memorial Tournament.
In other words, the wind was the winner Thursday. How tough was it? Last year's U.S. Open winner, Martin Kaymer, carded an 82 for his opening round.
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Loser: ShotLink
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ShotLink, the PGA Tour's tracking system, had its work cut out for it with the difficult conditions at this week's Valero Texas Open.
Check out the gruesome representation of D.A. Points' work at the first hole in his opening round above. Points again put ShotTracker through its paces when he carded a quadruple bogey at the par-three seventh hole en route to an opening 86.
Later, Scott Stallings made an 11 on a par-five, and Camilo Villegas made an eight on a par three. ShotLink painted some horrific pictures in Texas this week.
Winner: Texas
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In a piece for the San Antonio Express-News, Tom Orsborn quoted a Texan at the tournament as saying, “And it’s really nice to see Texans up there on the leaderboard.”
You'd have to imagine the rest of the Lone Star State felt the same way.
Jimmy Walker, who lives just outside San Antonio, of course, won the Valero Texas Open. So there was a Texan atop the leaderboard.
Right behind him? University of Texas alum and Texas native, Jordan Spieth. Spieth fired a Sunday two-under 70 to finish at seven under, two strokes behind Jimmy Walker.
And tied for sixth? Amarillo, Texas, native Ryan Palmer.
Loser: Graeme McDowell
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Graeme McDowell was forced to bow out of the Valero Texas Open after his opening nine holes with an ankle injury he originally suffered in practice Wednesday.
"With The Masters upcoming I decided that getting fit is imperative. Don't like WDs," McDowell tweeted after the WD (via the Daily Mail).
With the first major of the season less than two weeks away, the Ulsterman surely doesn't want to be dealing with any injuries that could compromise his preparation.
Winner and Loser: Aaron Baddely
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"Australia's Aaron Baddeley holed a 336-yard tee shot but only signed for an extraordinary birdie at the Texas Open." So read a report from the BBC.
How is this possible? Unfortunately, Baddeley hit his first shot out of bounds at the par-four 17th hole.
When a golfer holes his tee shot on a par-four, you feel like he deserves better than birdie. However, as there aren't any mulligans on the PGA Tour, the Australian's first effort counted. He had to feel good when his second tee shot found the hole, but he was likely kicking himself that the wondershot didn't come with his first swing.
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