Latest News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2015
Third Round Notes – Saturday, March 28
Weather: Mostly sunny and breezy with temperatures reaching the low-80s. Winds S/SW at 10-20 mph with gusts to 23 mph.
Third-Round Leaderboard
| Jimmy Walker | 71-67-69-—207 | (-9) |
|---|---|---|
| Jordan Spieth | 71-69-71-—211 | (-5) |
| Billy Horschel | 72-70-71-—213 | (-3) |
Jimmy Walker
FedExCup point’s leader and Boerne resident Jimmy Walker shook off consecutive bogeys on Nos. 3 & 4 to play his final 14 holes in 5-under par on his way to a 3-under-par 69. He’ll begin Sunday’s final round with a four-stroke margin over Jordan Spieth, who finished with a 1-under-par 71. Walker’s 54-hole total is 9-under-par 207 His four-stroke lead is the largest since Eric Axley led by four strokes in 2006.
Jimmy Walker’s Results When Leader/Co-Leader after 54 Holes...
| Year | Event | Position After 54 Holes | Finish |
| 2014 | AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am | 1st/+6 | Won |
| 2015 | Hyundai Tournament of Champions | T1/H. Matsuyama | T2 |
| 2015 | Sony Open in Hawaii | 1st/+2 | Won |
Should he win, Walker would become the fifth player since 2000 with ties with Texas to win this event, joining Steven Bowditch (2014), Justin Leonard (2000, ’01, ’07), Bart Bryant (2004), and Tommy Armour III (2003).
Walker would also become the 18th player with Texas ties (native/resident) to claim this event and the second in succession. He would be the eighth of the last 16 winners to have hailed from Texas.
Walker, a Boerne resident, could also be the fifth area resident to win the Valero Texas Open and the first since David Ogrin (Garden Ridge) in 1996. Other area winners include Bill Rogers (1981), Wesley Ellis (1959) and Tony Holquin (1953).
Jimmy Walker’s Stats Through 54 Holes...
| Category | Rank |
| Driving Accuracy | 25 of 41 - T27 |
| GIR | 37 of 54 – T1 |
| Putts Per Round | 79 – 26.3/T6 |
| Putts/GIR | 1.595/T4 |
| Driving Distance | 294.7/T5th |
Through 54 holes, Walker leads in Strokes Gained: Putting (8.900).
Walker has birdied 10 of the 12 par-5 holes at the TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course.
Walker is making his 10th start in the Valero Texas Open this week and his best finish in his nine previous starts was T3 in 2010. Walker finished T16 at TPC San Antonio last year.
Walker is making his 224th career PGA TOUR start this week, and 10th of the 2014-15 PGA TOUR Season. In addition to his playoff loss at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and victory a week later at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Walker’s additional top-10 finishes this year came at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (T4) and Farmers Insurance Open (T7).
Following his playoff loss to San Antonio native Patrick Reed in early January, Walker took control of the top spot in the FedexCup standings. With his win at Waialae Country Club a week later, he increased that lead and has yet to let go of it.
With a win this week, Walker would become the season’s first multiple winner for the second season in a row. With his first three TOUR wins early in the 2013-14 campaign, Walker became just the fourth player to win three times in eight or fewer starts to begin a season over the last 20 years, joining Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and David Duval.
Jordan Spieth
Winner of the Valspar Championship earlier this month, former Texas Longhorn Jordan Spieth posted a 1-under 71 on Saturday and will begin the final round four back at 5-under 211.
Should he win, he’d become the fifth player since 2000 with ties with Texas to win the Valero Texas Open, joining Steven Bowditch (2014), Justin Leonard (2000, ’01, ’07), Bart Bryant (2004), and Tommy Armour III (2003). Spieth resides in Dallas.
Spieth would also become the 18th player with Texas ties (native/resident) to claim this event and the second in succession. He would be the eighth of the last 16 winners to have hailed from Texas.
Spieth is making his fourth-consecutive start at the Valero Texas Open. He finished 10th last year, missed the cut in 2013 and in 2012, as an amateur, finished T41.
In 13 rounds now at TPC San Antonio, Spieth has finished below par in eight of those, including all three this year. His low round here is a 4-under-par 68 in the third round in 2014.
Jordan Spieth’s Stats Through 54 Holes...
| Category | Rank |
| Driving Accuracy | 25 of 42/T27 |
| GIR | 32 of 54/T13 |
| Putts Per Round | 81 – 27.0/T17 |
| Putts/GIR | 1.625/7th |
Third-Round Lead Notes
So far this year, the third-round leader/co-leaders has won five of 19 events. The most recent was in January when Bill Haas prevailed at the Humana Challenge. Others include Sang-Moon Bae (Frys.com Open), Ben Martin (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open), Ryan Moore (CIMB Classic) and Jimmy Walker (Sony Open in Hawaii).
There have not been co-leaders at this event after three rounds since 1993 when Jay Haas, Bob Lohr, Tom Lehman and Dan Forsman shared the lead at Oak Hills. Haas would go on to win the tournament on the second playoff hole against Lohr.
Miscellaneous Notes
The Valero Texas Open is one of the final two opportunities for players not exempt for the Masters to play their way into the year’s first major championship. The winner of the Valero Texas Open, if not already exempt, will punch his ticket to Augusta. Additionally, the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking through the Valero Texas Open are exempt, as well. Not currently eligible, Harris English is lurking at No. 52 and hopes to play his way to the Masters with a strong performance at TPC San Antonio. English likely needs a seventh-place finish or better this week. At 4-over 220 through 54 holes, he is currently T33.
This marks the fourth consecutive year that the 54-hole leader has led by multiple strokes. Steven Bowditch led by three in 2014, Billy Horschel by two in 2013 and Ben Curtis by three in 2012. Horschel was the only one of the three to not win the event. Martin Laird closed with a 9-under-par 63 to capture the event by two strokes.
Freddie Jacobson increased his streak of consecutive holes without a three-putt to 398, the longest current streak on TOUR. Jacobson’s last three-putt came on No. 16 in the second round at the Humana Challenge. His streak of 398 holes is the longest on the PGA TOUR since Luke Donald had 483 straight during the 2011 season. Jacobson has only had four three-putts this year.
Carlos Ortiz, the 2014 Web.com Tour’s Player of the Year, continues to move up the leaderboard. Ortiz was T95 after a 7-over-par 79 on Thursday, but rebounded with rounds of 67-70 to move to T12. Matt Jones, who will defend his title next week at the Shell Houston Open, also has moved up following a 5-over-par 77 on Thursday. Rounds of 71-68 have him T12 heading into Sunday’s final round.
Jimmy Walker and Jordan Spieth are the only players to have posted three consecutive, sub-par rounds.
Bogey-free rounds:
| R1: | Charley Hoffman (67) |
|---|---|
| R2: | Zach Johnson (71) |
| R3: | Gary Woodland (68) |
Scoring Averages at TPC San Antonio
| Round | Front 9 | Back 9 | Total | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 38.967 | 37.821 | 76.695 | -- |
| R2 | 37.002 | 36.337 | 73.339 | 75.109 |
| R3 | 37.293 | 36.480 | 73.773 | 74.853 |
The par-4 fourth hole played the most difficult in round three at 4.507. The par-4 17th played the easiest at 3.640.
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.
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
