Capan Shoots 58 as Par Gets Pounded in Veritex Bank Championship

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