Bogey-free 65 lifts Scotland's Knox to PGA Texas Open lead

Russell Knox, seeking his first PGA Tour title in six years, fired a bogey-free, seven-under par 65 on Friday to seize the first-round lead at the Texas Open.

The 36-year-old from Scotland reeled off four consecutive birdies on the back nine at TPC San Antonio to grab a one-stroke lead over Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard.

England's Aaron Rai and Americans Matt Kuchar, Denny McCarthy and JJ Spaun shared third on 67.

"Thrilled with the round," said Knox, who set an early target and remained atop the board when the day ended. "I took care of business off the tee, which was nice."

Knox, ranked 169th, shared sixth at the Players Championship earlier this month, his best showing of the season.

He's not qualified for the Masters but would secure a spot at Augusta National next week with a victory.

"I would love to win and get to play next week," Knox said. "It would be the biggest bonus of the year. But I'm quite happy to sit on the couch with my dog next week, too. I say that, but I'm going to try my hardest to finish first this week."

Leaderboard after Round 1 @ValeroTXOpen:1. @RooKnox -72. Rasmus Hojgaard -6T3. Matt Kuchar -5T3. @_DennyMcCarthy T3. @JJSpaun T3. Aaron RaiT7. Eleven players tied -4

Knox won the 2015 WGC Shanghai title, the 2016 PGA Travelers Championship and his most recent title at the 2018 Irish Open on the DP World Tour.

Knox birdied the first hole after dropping his approach inside three feet, sank a 13-foot birdie putt at the fifth and chipped in a 60-foot birdie effort at the par-3 seventh. He also chipped within inches of the cup for par saves at six and nine.

"Just a couple of those good luck moments starting the round got my momentum nice," Knox said. "Those were the key parts that allowed me to kind of settle into