As Matt Every showed on Thursday at the Valero Texas Open, anyone can score low on a difficult course if they have some momentum going early on.
Every shot an incredible first round score of nine under par 63, breaking the course record of 64 that had been held since 2010. Matt got off to a hot start by birdying two of his first four holes, and never looked back after that, getting seven more along the way to the clubhouse lead after day one. Even though he had the advantage of playing in the morning where there was less wind and shoe marks to have to deal with on the greens, it was nonetheless a great round that defied his overall statistics heading into this week's event.
Matt Every had a good start to the year with a T6 finish at the Sony Open, but since then has been very inconsistent, making only five cuts in ten starts with four of them being top 25 finishes. He is ranked 164th on the PGA Tour this year in total driving, and yet somehow goes out on Thursday and hits 85% of the fairways to lead the field. Of course, after shooting a course record he is going to have some stats that are off the charts, but I highly doubt that he will be able to post another solid round tomorrow. Every is going to be playing in the afternoon this time around, and with the winds up and the potential for storms, if Matt shoots even par he should be happy (and most likely in the lead heading into the weekend).
Among the other notables, Ben Curtis is at -5, Rick Beem -3, Bud Cauley, Matt Kuchar, and Harris English are at -2, and K.J. Choi is at +2. Kevin Na, the player who got a 16 on the par 4 ninth hole at the event last year, shot a first round score of seven over 79 and promptly withdrew from the event after his round ended. At least he got a par on the hole this time around.
Ryan Kekoufski is a scratch golfer who has both played and watched the sport for well over a decade. He covers sports for the Yahoo! Contributor Network, and currently resides in Virginia.
