Mark Hubbard\u2019s back nine at TPC San Antonio catapulted him over five other players who thought they\u2019d be walking out Friday as co-first round leaders.<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old Hubbard had other plans, finishing his last 14 holes bogey free after a slip up on the par-4 fourth hole early in his opening round.<\/p>\n
He finished with six birdies on his last eight holes, completing a 7-under 65 at the Valero Texas Open<\/a>. Looking up at Hubbard tied for second are Tony Finau, Davis Thompson, Andrew Putnam, Robert MacIntyre and Steven Fisk.<\/p>\n Mark Hubbard birdies six of his final eight holes and claims the outright lead with a 7-under 65 at the Valero Texas Open.<\/p>\n With 24 players left to complete the first round, Hubbard is bidding for his sixth 18-hole lead\/co-lead on TOUR in his 272nd career start.<\/p>\n \u2014 PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) April 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Everyone but MacIntrye is playing for a spot in next week\u2019s Masters<\/a> \u2014 the last spot available in the competitive 2026 Augusta National field<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big thing for me is I drove it a lot better, I\u2019ve been really struggling with the driver for the last like, I don\u2019t know, seems like forever,\u201d Hubbard told reporters after the round. \u201cTo get that going the right direction, I mean, this is not a friendly course off the tee if you\u2019re not feeling good with the big club. <\/p>\n \u201cSo to get that going, and just even the ones that I missed, just knowing where they\u2019re going, getting that like real feedback because for a while it\u2019s been coming out of both barrels and it\u2019s been ugly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ‘Easy to focus on task at hand’: Spieth sees no similarities between San Antonio, Augusta<\/p>\n Jordan Spieth discusses where his game is ahead of the Valero Texas Open<\/p>\n First round play was suspended right before 8 p.m. local time due to darkness. Play is set to resume at 7:45 a.m. Friday and the second round will begin as scheduled.<\/a> <\/p>\n Crashing the first-round leader party could be Pontus Nyholm, John Parry and Jeffrey Kang who are all four under with three or four holes left to complete early Friday.<\/p>\n While a string of birdies could have them catch Hubbard, it\u2019s likely they\u2019ll fall T-2 with the aforementioned quintet at 66 or T-7 with eight other players. That list includes betting favorite Tommy Fleetwood<\/a>, 2021 Masters runner-up Will Zalatoris<\/a> and 2024 Masters runner-up Ludvig \u00c5berg.<\/p>\n