It isn't LaCantera, but it isn't Oakmont, either

SAN ANTONIO -- There was some concern, pre-tournament, that the new site of the Valero Texas Open was going to prove difficult beyond fair. Even Sergio Garcia, listed as player consultant on the Greg Norman-designed AT&T Oaks Course at the TPC San Antonio, was skeptical.

"I think the golf course has come out great," Garcia said on the eve of the Texas Open. "Probably just a little bit tougher than we maybe expected at the beginning, but it's very good."

LaCantera Golf Club, on which the Texas Open had been played since 1995, was a benevolent layout, once even yielding a winning score of 254, 26-under par (Tommy Armour III in 2003). The TPC San Antonio won't be that generous, but neither is it slaying the field (notwithstanding it's evisceration of John Daly, who had two double-bogeys in a round of 77).

Twenty-four of 78 players from the morning draw bettered par, Matt Jones' 66 and Paul Stankowski's 67 setting the pace. Garcia was not among them; he shot one-over par 73.

"It wasn't as windy as we thought it might have been," he said. "It was a little gusty at times, but they moved some of the tees up and made it a little easier. Overall, still a tough golf course. There's not a lot of low scoring and the weather was pretty nice."

-- John Strege