Roberto

Diaz

Diaz piped 10-of-14 fairways which was tied for the best among the morning wave. From there, he pelted 12 GIR and turned that into six birdies, erasing a pair of blemishes. “I hit it great. I hit a lot of fairways and I was never out of position, so it was easier to get it to the green. It was tough today, you know, like we had a couple shots during the round that it was raining and it was pretty windy, so it was a big win for me to get in the fairway. And then from there, just being patient and hitting a bunch of greens.” This isn’t his first taste of success at TPC San Antonio as he’s now been T7 or better after round one in seven events in his TOUR career and three of them have come at the Valero Texas Open. If the co-lead holds it will be his second time posting a first-round lead or co-lead (T74/2019 John Deere Classic).

The Louisiana Open is the fifth longest running event on the KFT and third longest at the same course. It also opens a two-week stretch in Louisiana with the inaugural Lake Charles Championship set for the following week. The event, staged at Le Triomphe Golf and CC in Broussard, La., features a purse of $750,000 with the winner taking $135,000. Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Le Triomphe has hosted this event annually since 1992. The par-71 stretches just short of 7,000 yards and has produced a winning score of 18-under or lower the past four editions. Last year, Mexico’s Diaz finished at 18-under 266, edging Peter Uihlein by a shot. His tournament featured four rounds in the 60s, with a 64 on Saturday. So far this season, Diaz has made four cuts in five events with his best finish being a T-18 at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.

The South Carolina-Aiken alum’s T25 (71-65-73-68) in 2018, during his rookie campaign, is his only cash in five prior appearances. He missed the cut by four last season on even-par 142 (71-71), one of nine MCs in 23 events, which saw him finish 155th in the FedExCup standings. The 32-year-old owns two career top-10 finishes in 54 starts, a T10 at the 2019 Puerto Rico Open, and a T8 at the 2019 Travelers. This is just his second event of the season, playing out of the Beyond 150 category, and arrives off a T48 as an alternate two weeks ago at the opposite-field Bermuda Championship (70-70-71-67).

A total of 80 players made the 36-hole cut of 3-under 139 so a second cut of low 70 and ties took place after 54 holes and fell on 4-under 209, leaving 70 players. Diaz, projected to drop one spot to 159th in the FedExCup standings, led by one after kicking off with a career-low, 9-under 62, and chased with 73-76. His stat line after R1: 7 birdies, 1 eagle, 0 bogeys. His stat line for his final 36 holes: 7 birdies, 6 bogeys, 4 doubles. Others joining Diaz on the bench for Sunday: 210- Martin Piller; Wyndham Clark; Ted Potter, Jr. .. 211- Dicky Pride; Joey Garber; Seth Reeves; Talor Gooch .. 212- Anders Albertson .. 213- Chad Campbell.

The 32-year-old hit 10 (of 14) fairways and 12 greens in regulation, gaining 0.280 strokes off-the-tee but losing 2.094 approaching and 1.463 around-the-green. He conjured three birdies at 17, 18 and 8, overshadowed by three bogey-4s at 12, 3 and 7, and double bogey-6 at 9 (all failed scrambles). The South Carolina-Aiken alum registered 1.750 putts per GIR and 0.666 SG: Putting, converting all three of his birdies from between 10 and 21 feet.

Diaz was firing on all cylinders today as he piped 12 (of 14) fairways on his way toward 14 greens in regulation. That helped him gain 5.1 strokes tee-to-green but he also caught fire with the flat stick, splashing home four putts from outside 11 feet. The highlight came from mid-range, though, when he holed out from 99 yards for eagle at the par-5 10th. This beats his previous low rounds on TOUR (65, 2018 Mayakoba/2019 Travelers). Diaz co-led through 36 holes at this year’s Puerto Rico Open but this will be his first time leading or co-leading after day one of a PGA TOUR event. The 32-year-old has two career top 10s in 49 starts but is still looking for his first win.

The Mexico native improves to 10-for-17 on the season with three top 25s and two top 10s. This was his 47th career event and second top 10, bettering a previous-best T10 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open back in February. On 12 (of 14) fairways and 12 greens in regulation, the South Carolina-Aiken alum offset two bogeys with three birdies, losing 2.155 strokes on-the-green but gaining 3.226 tee-to-green. For the week, he totaled 17 birdies against seven bogeys and carded rounds of 69-65-67-69. The 32-year-old is in the published field at this coming week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.

This is the Mexico native’s second Travelers after a missed cut last year by four (72-70). He arrived 9-for-16 on the season with two top 25s and one top 10, a career-best T10 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open nine starts ago. The South Carolina-Aiken alum found 11 (of 14) fairways and 11 greens in regulation, recording 0.739 SG: Off-the-Tee, 0.699 SG: Approach, 2.957 SG: Around, and 4.395 SG: Tee-to-Green. He squared a lone bogey-5 at hole 4, offset by four birdies at 2 and a hat-trick at 13-15, one of those a 2-putt variety, two from two-feet-and-in, and a hole-out at 2 from 13'7" away. The 32-year-old, who opened with 69 and career-tying-low 65, posted 1.818 putts per GIR and -1.054 SG: Putting with 27 total putts. He’ll play out of the penultimate twosome in R4 with Zack Sucher.

This is the 32-year-old’s second Nelson after T66 last year (70-68-70-71). He checked in 8-for-14 on the season with two top 25s and one top 10, a career-best T10 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open, where he was a 36-hole co-leader (68-68-72-71). On 11 (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation, the South Carolina resident squared two bogeys at 13 and 17, offset by six birdies at 14, 1, 2, 5, 7 and 8, two from between 10 and 32 feet. He posted 1.615 putts per GIR, 1.357 SG: Putting, and 2.547 SG: Tee-to-Green.

Diaz split eight (of 14) fairways en route to 12 greens today. His lone blemish came at the par-4 10th when he found the greenside bunker on approach. Diaz offset the lone bogey with five birdies. The 32-year-old didn’t play in last year’s edition but he was a runner-up here in 2016 when it was played as a Web.com Tour event. He missed the cut the following year but overall he’s now gained strokes over the field in six of his seven rounds played at the Corales Golf Club.