J.J. Henry and Stewart Cink share the lead in Texas

CP

J.J. Henry and former British Open champion Stewart Cink share the lead at the Valero Texas Open after shooting 5-under 67s while Mike Weir had another round to forget and Kevin Na suffered a historic meltdown on the ninth hole.

Henry, who has just one top-10 result so far this year, hit just seven of 14 fairways but made just 27 putts on the day.

"The key is to keep it in play," said Henry, who hasn't missed a cut this season. "There's holes you can definitely get in trouble out here. I drove the ball great today and hit the ball pretty close. Pretty stress-free day."

Cink was not originally scheduled to play at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course but after a disappointing Masters he made a late change.

"I was really disappointed with missing the cut at the Masters and I didn't really feel like I would go forward by taking another week off so decided to add this one and get right back to it instead of thinking about missing the cut at a major for another week," said Cink.

"I'm glad I did that. I played well, played really well, actually," he said.

Defending champion Adam Scott was a stroke back in his first round since his runner-up finish at the Masters. Scott shot a 68 and was tied with Charley Hoffman, Jhonattan Vegas, Vaughn Taylor and Kevin Chappell.

Mike Weir continued to struggle off the tee, hitting just three of 14 fairways in his round which included six bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 fourth. He found water off the tee at the par-3 third which triggered a bogey-double bogey-bogey stretch. His only birdie of the day came on the par-4 17th where he initially found the bunker off the tee but put his second shot six feet from the hole.

While Weir has said he would play the next three events on the PGA schedule, the left-hander admitted he could re-evaluate his schedule if he continues to be uncompetitive.

Matt McQuillan of Kingston, Ont., one of four Canadians in the field this week, stumbed to a double bogey-double bogey start and never quite recovered, putting up six more bogeys en route to an opening round 82. That's his highest scoring round of the season, which has seen him miss the cut in each of his last five tournaments.

Only Nationwide Tour grad Daniel Summerhays posted a higher score, 83, on Thursday.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was the top Canadian, shooting a 1-under 71. It was his sixth straight under-par round.

Chris Baryla of Vernon, B.C., who made his first cut of the year on the Nationwide Tour last month, had three bogeys and a double bogey on his way to a 5-over 77.

Kevin Na, meanwhile, set a PGA Tour record for the highest score on a par-four hole when he needed 16 shots to finish the ninth.

Na's nightmare is the highest score on a par-four since PGA Tour records for scorecards began in 1983 - behind John Daly's 18 on a par-five at Bay Hill in 1998.

Na sent his tee shot into the woods, found the ball and declared an unplayable lie and returned to the tee. He then hit deep right into the woods again, played a provisional shot left but went to the second shot on the right to play it from the woods. That shot, his fourth, hit a tree and the ball ricocheted onto his pant leg, costing him a two shot penalty. Na hit six shots in the woods, trying to get out of the trees, before he finally found the rough and played from there to the fringe of the green. The 27-year-old ended his nightmare with a putt from just under six feet to make what he thought was 15. But another stroke was added after Na reviewed the video replay before signing his scorecard.

Na started the ninth hole 1-under par but when he was done, made the turn at 11-over par. He managed to regain his composure and record three birdies on a flawless back nine to finish with an 8-over-par 80.

"I got done with the hole and I said (to my caddie), ‘I think I made somewhere between a 10 and a 15... but I think it's close to a 15," said Na. "It's all a blur."

According to the PGA Tour's website, prior to 1983, Tommy Armour hit the worst single-hole score when he shot a 23 during the 1927 Shawnee Open. Ray Ainsely made the same score during the 1938 U.S. Open.