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March 28, 2014

Daily Wrap-up: Friday @ VTO

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Phil Mickelson made the cut on the number in the Valero Texas Open on Friday, blasting out of a greenside water hazard to 5 feet to set up a birdie on the final hole.

Mickelson shot a 2-under 70 after opening with a 77 -- his worst score of the season -- on TPC San Antonio's AT&T Oaks Course. Lefty was 11 strokes behind leader Steven Bowditch, the Australian who had a 67 to reach 8-under 136.

Mickelson was in the stream that runs in front of the 18th green after attempting to reach the par 5 in two from 288 yards with a 3-wood. (Watch the shot here) "I needed to make a birdie to have a chance at playing tomorrow," Mickelson said. "Fortunately, barely went in, and it looked like the water overlapped the grass. It was not that hard of a shot."

Bowditch holed out from 83 yards for an eagle on the par-4 12th. The 30-year-old topped the leaderboard at the end of a round for the first time in his PGA TOUR career.

"My wedge shots have been pretty good," Bowditch said. "I was trying to hit (the one on No. 12) a little past the pin and hope it came back to a reasonable distance. Got lucky."

He closed the round with a double bogey on the par-4 ninth, taking two chips to get out of the heavy rough.

Chad Collins and rookie Andrew Loupe were a stroke back. Collins shot 66, and Loupe had a 70.

Mickelson has struggled this year and entered the Valero Texas Open for the first time in 22 years to put his game under competitive conditions as a preparation for the Masters. He knew he had a chance to make the cut even after a bogey on No. 15 dropped him to 3 over.

"I was on the green for five minutes and (the 3-over score) went from 74th to 71st in five minutes," Mickelson said, "so I figured that 3 over had a pretty good chance of making it because the scores were coming back."

On the 18th, Mickelson pulled off his left shoe and rolled up that pants leg and gave it a shot with his foot in the water.

"It's important that I get more mentally into the round like I did today," Mickelson said. "Yesterday, I was very sloppy. I like the way I'm driving the ball. My speed is back. My back feels great. My body feels great, and I'm able to hit the ball hard again."

Plus, after having 17 putts on his second nine Thursday, he opened his second round Friday with one-putts on eight of his first nine holes. He was 3 under for the round until taking two shots to get out of a greenside bunker and bogeying No. 8.

ABOUT VALERO

Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, Valero), is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products, and sells its products primarily in the United States (U.S.), Canada, the United Kingdom (U.K.), Ireland and Latin America. Valero owns 15 petroleum refineries located in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.2 million barrels per day. Valero is a joint venture member in Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC, which owns two renewable diesel plants located in the U.S. Gulf Coast region with a combined production capacity of approximately 1.2 billion gallons per year, and Valero owns 12 ethanol plants located in the U.S. Mid-Continent region with a combined production capacity of approximately 1.6 billion gallons per year. Valero manages its operations through its Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol segments. Please visit investorvalero.com for more information.

ABOUT VALERO IN THE COMMUNITY

Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, Valero), and the Valero Energy Foundation are committed to improving the quality of life in communities where Valero has major operations. In 2023, Valero, its employees and the foundation collectively generated more than $77 million in charitable support through direct/in-kind donations, fundraising and volunteerism. Valero employees logged more than 127,000 volunteer hours in 2023 for hundreds of projects in their communities. Valero provides funding to a variety of nonprofit agencies for programs and services supporting education, basic needs, health care and civic initiatives.  Through the overwhelming support of sponsors, the foundation’s signature programs, the Valero Texas Open and Benefit for Children, generated more than $23 million raised in 2023 for charities across the United States.

ABOUT THE VALERO TEXAS OPEN

The Valero Texas Open is the sixth-oldest professional tournament in golf worldwide, the third-oldest on the PGA TOUR and the longest held in the same city. In 2022, the tournament celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Its list of champions includes some of the greatest names in golf history: Walter Hagen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Lee Trevino, Nick Price, Justin Leonard, Zach Johnson, Adam Scott, Jimmy Walker, Jordan Spieth and 2019, 2023 champion Corey Conners to name a few.

Since Valero became title sponsor in 2002, the tournament has become a leader in charitable fundraising among PGA TOUR events. The Valero Texas Open, together with its Benefit for Children and Champions fore Charity initiatives, has contributed more than $232 million to hundreds of worthy charities since inception. Please visit www.ValeroTexasOpen.com for more information.

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Phil Mickelson

Media Contacts

Stephanie Sage
Valero Texas Open
Director, Marketing & Community Relations

210.345.3839 office

Lee Patterson
Valero Texas Open
Director, Media Relations

704.913.1088 mobile