🏌🏻 Bhatia Leads At Texas Open

Good morning. Six days to go for the Masters!

Left-handers have adorned the green jacket on 6 occasions - Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson (3), Bubba Watson (2).

Who’s it going to be this time?

⛳ This day in history: April 5 has been a tournament date 21 times in Masters Tournament history, the last being in 2022. The final round has been played on April 5 only once, in 1959.

ALBATROSS
Bhatia Has Eyes Set On Masters Spot: Solo Leader At Texas Open

The opening round of the Valero Texas Open had its fair share of thrills and spills with players going all-out for the final Masters spot.

🚀 Bhatia Sole Leader: Akshay Bhatia (-9) leads by three shots ahead of Lower and Todd (-6) after the opening round in Texas.

There's a lot at stake for our Round 1 leader - a second PGA Tour title and a last-minute invite to the Masters next week if he wins the title.

🤯 Ace Alert: Jordan Spieth made a stunning hole-in-one at the 199-yard, par-3 16th hole at TPC San Antonio, his fourth career ace on Tour.

It's his first Tour ace since the third round of the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

📌 Star(s) Watch: Max Homa (-4) and Rory McIlroy (-3) sit T-4 and T-8 respectively.

Ludvig Aberg had a disappointing round and lies T-52 while Matsuyama and Speith are placed T-80.

🎉 Birthday Bash: Justin Lower celebrated his 35th birthday in style, posting an impressive 66 to sit T-2. He headed out to a local BBQ spot in San Antonio to celebrate.

⏳ History Beckons: Corey Conners is looking to become just the third player in the tournament’s history to win three times. The other two names are pretty impressive: Arnold Palmer and Justin Leonard.

Conners (-2) is T-17 after Round 1.

Watch Round 1 Highlights

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
Augusta Makes 3 Changes Ahead Of The Masters

The Augusta National Golf Club had earlier lengthened the par-5 2nd hole 10 yards further back - making the longest hole even longer at 585 yards.

But that's not the only change that you'll see at the course next week - here are the other tweaks.

⛳️ The green on the 2nd hole has been altered. There’s a back-middle hole location on 2 and a slightly bigger area in there where they can move that around a little bit.

⛳️ On the green on the 240-yard, par-3 4th, they’ve made the back-right section a little bit bigger for an extra pin position.

⛳️ On the green on the 180-yard par-3 6th, they’ve flattened out a section in the back left to have an extra hole location there, too and the top-right plateau is bigger than before.

The details have been revealed by Rory McIlroy, who went on a scouting trip to Augusta National earlier this week.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

T-Mobile Match Play: Rose Zhang and three others share lead after the second round in Las Vegas.

Tiger Injured? Tiger Woods' ankle has 'zero mobility' according to close friend and fellow pro golfer Notah Begay III.

ANWA: Lottie Woad takes 2-shot lead into final round at Augusta National Women's Amateur while Anna Davis will miss out due to another rules violation.

Caddie Corner: Justin Thomas will have Matt Minister, former caddie of Patrick Cantlay, on his bag for next week’s Masters after splitting with Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay.

Max Homa: Last season, Max Homa only competed once in the week prior to a major championship. This year, he plans to go 4 for 4.

Zurich Classic: Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are the latest team to commit to the Zurich Classic, the Tour's team event set for later this month at TPC Louisiana.

BIRDIE
Never Pay Green Fees: This Golf Course Is For Sale @ $2.9 Million

The 7 Lakes Golf Club which is located 10 miles from Donald Ross’ famed Pinehurst No 2 course is available for sale!

This 6,856-yard semiprivate course designed by Ross’ godson Peter Tufts III, is listed at a selling price of $2.9 million.

What You Should Know:

📍 The 155-acre property includes eight acres that could be developed into housing.

📍 The 10,000-square-foot clubhouse has a golf shop, locker rooms, offices, restaurant and a fully equipped kitchen.

📍 A family membership—which gets you unlimited golf and range access—is $3,310 if you pay up front.

📍 Green fees are $85 during peak weekend times.

Click here for more details.

DRIVING RANGE
How To Hit Consistent Drives

In this video, we share secrets to hitting powerful and consistent drives on a regular basis.

Advertise in Golf Reporter.