Capan Shoots 58 as Par Gets Pounded in Veritex Bank Championship

PGA Tour

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A moment of silence for par.

The field in the Veritex Bank Championship engaged in a massive assault on par Thursday in the first round of the tournament, and the attack was led by Frankie Capan, the former Minnesota State Amateur champion who shot a 13-under-par 58.

Capan, who started the week at No. 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour money list with $74,564 in eight events, parred the first hole at Texas Rangers Golf Club, then birdied the next four holes in a row. After three pars (6,7 &8), he eagled the 503-yard, par-5 ninth and followed that with seven consecutive birdies. Having thus gone eight holes in a row without a 4 on his card, he made one on the par-4 17th and "suffered" his first 5 of the day on the 524-yard, par-5 18th. So his 58 could have been a 57, if he hadn't hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker at No. 18. (He wound up needing to make an 8-footer just to save his par.)

As it was, he shot 29 on both nines, and the 18-hole score of 58 broke the course record set four years ago by the now undisputed World No. 1 -- Scottie Scheffler. 

But Capan was hardly the only player lighting up the course. Trent Phillips shot 61, which put him in second place, and Tim Widing was third with a 62. There were four more players -- Jamie Lovemark, Sam Saunders, John Pak and Andrew Kozan -- at 63, and another nine at 64. 

Van Holmgren, the former Minnesota state high school, State Amateur and State Open winner, shot 67. You would expect that to be in the top 15, or at the very least, in the top 25 after the first day of a Korn Ferry tournament. Instead, Holmgren ended the day in a 26-way tie for 57th place. He'll have to hustle just to make the cut. 

The top 30 players on the Korn Ferry points list at the end of the year will graduate to the PGA Tour for 2025, and Capan is currently No. 30.

Holmgren, who has made $32,300 in his four starts, is No. 72 on the money list, and No. 73 on the points list. 

This, by the way, wasn't the first time Capan has posted a score in the 50s during a tournament round. He shot a 59 in the final round of the Arizona state high school tournament to win that title for the second straight year -- by 10 shots!


Veritex Bank Championship

At Texas Rangers Golf Club

Par 71, 6,527 yards

Arlington, Texas

First-round results

1. Frankie Capan                58

2. Trent Phillips                    61

3. Tim Widing                       62

T4. Jamie Lovemark            63

T4. Sam Saunders              63

T4. John Pak                       63

T4. Andrew Kozan               63

T8. Brian Stuard                  64

T8. Etienne Papineau          64

T8. Davis Lamb                  64

T8. Griffin Wood                 64

T8. Erik Compton               64

T8. Kris Ventura                 64

T8. Wes Homan                 64

T8. Hunter Eichorn             64

T8. Dillon Board                 64

T40. Andre Metzger          66

T57. Van Holmgren           67