Valero Texas Open 2012: Ben Curtis Holds On For 2-Stroke Win

American Matt Every lit up TPC San Antonio in the first round of the Valero Texas Open on Thursday afternoon. Every, who is best known for a bizarre interview with Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman at this year’s Sony Open, had a bogey-free round and carded nine birdies for a 63. At 9-under, Every leads Hunter Haas by three shots.

It’s remarkable to shoot such a low round without having an eagle on your card, but the wind at TPC San Antonio was down and it yielded the 63 to the streaky Every. He kept the ball in the fairway, posting the second-best driving accuracy of the day, and converted once he was on the green.

The 2012 Valero Texas Open gets under way Thursday and, even though most of golf’s biggest names are noticeably absent, it’s an important tournament for just about everyone involved. Some of the golfers likely to be on the edge of the FedEx Cup playoffs at the end of the season have a chance to grab valuable points, while players fighting to keep their PGA Tour cards could collect a big paycheck to move up the money list.

Tee times come from PGA.com, which will also have a live leaderboard updating constantly once the round starts. All times listed are local, which is Central Daylight Time.

Defending champion Brendan Steele and 15th-ranked Matt Kuchar headline a relatively weak field for the 2012 Valero Texas Open at the Greg Norman-designed Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas.

Steele is grouped with rookie Bud Cauley and Kevin Na, who infamously posted a 16 on the par-4 ninth hole during the 2011 Valero Texas Open. Steele, Na and Cauley will tee off at No.1 at 1:40 p.m. ET on Thursday and from No. 10 at 8:40 a.m. ET on Friday. Kuchar, who placed 44th at last week’s RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, is grouped with Johnson Wagner and K.J. Choi for the first two rounds, teeing off on the No. 10 tee at 8:40 a.m. ET on Thursday and at 1:40 p.m. ET on the first tee on Friday.