Adam Scott’svictory at the Valero Texas Open was his third career victory in the state of Texas, having previously won the 2007 Shell Houston Open and the 2008 HP Byron Nelson Championship. He joined Byron Nelson as the only players to win all three events. 

Last year,Adam Scott became the first Australian to win the Valero Texas Open since Bruce Crampton in 1964 and the first international champion of the event since Nick Price in 1992.

Adam Scott defends his Valero Texas Open title having posted his best career finish in 40 major starts last week at the Masters Tournament (T2). His previous best was T3 at the 2006 PGA Championship won by Tiger Woods at Medinah Country Club.

The 2011 Valero Texas Open features five players that finished among the top 10 at the Masters Tournament: Adam Scott (T2), Geoff Ogilvy (T4), Angel Cabrera(7), Bo Van Pelt (T8) and Ryan Palmer (10). Scott, Ogilvy and Cabrera will play together in the first two rounds.

With his victory at the Masters Tournament, PGA TOUR rookie Charl Schwartzel jumped to 10^th in the FedExCup standings. Schwartzel and two other rookies --Jhonattan Vegas (12) and Chris Kirk (26) – are among the top 30 in the current FedExCup standings.

Martin Laird(T20) and Alex Cejka (T35) were the only players among the 49 to make the cut at the Masters Tournament without a 3-putt for the week.

Making his 500^th career PGA TOUR start at the Masters Tournament, David Toms (T24) finished T1 in Driving Accuracy (85.71 percent) and T1 in Greens in Regulation (79.17 percent).

On his way to a seventh-place finish, former champion Angel Cabrera led the Masters Tournament in Total Driving (10), which combines Driving Distance (292.0 yards/9^th) with Driving Accuracy (85.71 percent/T1). Cabrera entered the Masters Tournament ranked 112^th in Total Driving on the PGA TOUR in 2011.

With his win at the Masters Tournament, Charl Schwartzel became the seventh first-time winner from the last eight major championships contested:

Tournament                           Winner

2011 Masters                             Charl Schwartzel

2010 PGA Championship         Martin Kaymer

2010 British Open                    Louis Oosthuizen

2010 U.S. Open                        Graeme McDowell

2010 Masters                           Phil Mickelson

2009 PGA Championship         Y.E. Yang

2009 British Open                    Stewart Cink

2009 U.S. Open                        Lucas Glover

Charl Schwartzel, 26, became the sixth player in his 20s to win on the PGA TOUR in 2011, joining Jhonattan Vegas, Aaron Baddeley, Nick Watney, Gary Woodland and Martin Laird. Baddeley turned 30 on March 17.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

The Champions Tour had eight former Masters Champions in the field at Augusta National last week – all but Fred Couples, who finished tied 15^th, missed the cut (Ben Crenshaw, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Mark O’Meara, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson andIan Woosnam). Two-time Masters Champion Bernhard Langerwas unable to play as he is recovering from thumb surgery after a bicycle accident.

Fred Couples made his 27^th appearance at the Masters last week, with a win in 1992 among his 11 top-10 finishes and 25 made cuts. It marked his 92^nd start in a Major Championship.

Bernhard Langer will not be defending his title at the 2011 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am due to his recovery from recent thumb surgery. Langer injured his thumb in a bicycle accident.

Tom Lehman is looking for his third victory this season after wins at the Allianz Championship and the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic. The last time Lehman won three times in a season was in 1991 on what is now the Nationwide Tour (Gulf Coast Classic, South Carolina Classic, Santa Rosa Open). Lehman finished T44 last year at the TPC Tampa Bay.

When Tom Watson won for a second straight year at the TPC Tampa Bay in 2008, he became the only player to successfully defend a title at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.

Jack Nicklaus claimed the only 54-hole event of his Champions Tour career at the TPC Tampa Bay in 1996. Nicklaus overcame a first-round 76 and rallied from five strokes back on the final day to edge J.C. Snead by a stroke.

Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith and Joe Don Rooney, the guitarist and background vocalist for the popular country group Rascal Flatts, have joined the celebrity field for the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am event at TPC Tampa Bay. Smith and Rooney join a group that includes singer/songwriter Vince Gill, formerDateline NBC co-anchor Stone Phillips, Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber, former Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks, ex-NFL quarterbackJoe Theismann and actor Craig T. Nelson. Actor Michael J. Fox had committed to play, but shoulder surgery will not permit his participation.

Wayne Grady and Lanny Wadkins have accepted sponsor exemptions to participate in the 2011 Regions Tradition at Shoal Creek. Grady, the winner of the 1990 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek, is one of only nine Australians to win a major championship. Wadkins was runner-up to Lee Trevino in the 1984 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek. He is a World Golf Hall of Fame member having been inducted in 2009. Wadkins also won the 1977 PGA Championship, one of 21 PGA TOUR victories he claimed in a 29 year career on the PGA TOUR. Wadkins’ lone Champions Tour victory came at the 2000 ACE Group Classic.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

With his runner-up at the Masters, 2007 Nationwide Tour grad Jason Day made a nice jump from 11th to 5th in International Team points for The Presidents Cup, which will be played in Day's native Australia in November. Day also improved 17 spots on the Official World Golf Ranking (41st to 24th). 

Like his 64 on Friday at Augusta National, Jason Day demonstrated a penchant for going low on the Nationwide Tour in 2007.  He shot 62 twice and 63 once. His 62-63 on the weekend at the Cox Classic in Omaha tied the Tour record for lowest 36-hole total (since bettered by one by Kevin Chappell). That same weekend he played the front nine in 28 shots on Saturday and 29 on Sunday.

Pro Football Hall of Fame member Jerry Rice returns as host of this week's Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae near San Francisco. The former San Francisco 49er great will also compete as a professional contestant for the second year in a row.

Former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Billy Hurley will make his first Nationwide Tour start since 2007 at TPC Stonebrae this week.  The 2004 U.S. Naval Academy graduate has conditional status on the Nationwide Tour this year. He won seven college titles while at Navy. A year ago, Hurley, 28, was on a destroyer protecting Iraqi oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.