Palmer bounces back strong in second round
Ryan Palmer has finished tied for sixth and tied for fourth in his last two starts at the Valero Texas Open.
After struggling behind the cutline and shooting a 74 Thursday, his worst score at TPC San Antonio since his second round in 2015 (75), Palmer looked adversity in the face and fired back with a 4-under 68 on Friday.
“Oh, it’s huge,” Palmer said after his round. “I came in today knowing I had to shoot under par there’s no doubt, so that always puts some added pressure. It was nice to get the putter rolling. My iron play was still pretty sloppy. I drove it well and hit some good shots when I needed to. I was able to salvage a 4-under par today which is great in this wind.”
The Amarillo native began his round at hole 10 with a bogey putting him at 3-over for the tournament, but quickly turned things around, birdieing his second hole and three more holes on his front nine.   
“That first hole, it was tough, it always has been for me,” Palmer said. “But in this game you can’t let one hole or swing dictate your round. Some of my best rounds ever have been after bogeying the first hole so I draw on that. It was a matter of limiting my mistakes and making more birdies.”
On the start of the back nine, Palmer reached 2-under but bogeyed back to back holes to fall back to even. The 40-year-old finished strong birdieing the sixth with a 12-footer and then hit a nice shot from the bunker to tap in for a four on the par-5 eighth. The former A&M golfer’s seven birdies and lone bogey propelled him up the scoreboard in a tie for 36th, six shots shy of the leaders Tony Finau and Bud Cauley.
“I’m excited,” Palmer said about being in contention. “I enjoy playing this golf course. I step up to the first tee with confidence every time I play it. I needed that round today to get myself back in there and I was able to that. I’m excited to see what the weekend holds, there are going to be some rough winds again so I need take advantage when I can.”
Tony Finau, Bud Cauley share the lead
Heading into the weekend, a pair of 27-year-olds, Tony Finau and Bud Cauley, share the clubhouse lead at 8-under.
Finau shot a 7-under 66 after recording eight birdies and an eagle. The Salt Lake City, Utah native caught fire after holing from the fairway on 11.
“I hit a good tee shot,” Finau said. “I had 103 to the flag. 56-degree a little bit into the breeze with a nice little hold off. I landed behind [the pin] and spun it into the hole. Anytime you can hole-out in a tournament is pretty cool.”
Entering the 14th hole yesterday Finau found himself at 2-over, since then he’s been on a tear going 12-under overall for the next 23 holes.
“I think just getting going early,” Finau said was the difference between today versus yesterday. Yesterday I got behind the eight ball pretty fast, a couple over, but just kept fighting back. Today I was able to get off to a better day. You need that on this course if you’re going to play well.”

Cauley put together a flawless round with six birdies and no bogies enroute to a 67. The Florida born golfer held his own and prevented mistakes with his wedges and putter throughout his second round.
“It saved me today,” said Cauley regarding his short game. “It was windy and tough. I knew I was going to miss some greens but was able to put it on the right spot for most of the time and saved some shots.”