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The Valero Texas Open is the 2026 curtain-raiser for The Masters. Played on a medium-length +7,400 yard, Par 72 track in San Antonio, Texas, this Greg Norman design is no pushover. This tournament is a bit of a nomad in terms of its PGA Tour schedule position, but when it has been played the week before The Masters we have seen Martin Laird, Corey Conners, Jordan Spieth (we were on-board), J.J. Spaun, Corey Conners, Akshay Bhatia and Brian Harman win at 100/1, 200/1, 16/1, 200/1, 20/1, 66/1 and 70/1 respectively. The last Masters invite is also up for grabs for any non-qualified winner this week.
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Course Guide: The Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio is not your typical US golf course. This Greg Norman design is a Par 72 measuring 7,438 yards and features tightish fairways at over 300 yards carry. Miss the fairway here and the rough is penal, plus there’s all manner of immovable natural hazards. Remember Kevin Na! Greens are undulating, multi-tiered and exotic in their grass structure featuring Champion Bermudagrass overseeded with Poa Trivialis. Scoring difficulty, as is the norm in Texas, is dictated by wind strength and firmness of the course, but over recent renewals strategic sorts have been able to score nicely around here.
Oaks Course, TPC San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas: Designer: Greg Norman 2009; Course Type: Mid-Score; Medium; Par: 72; Length: 7,438 yards; Holes with Water Hazards In-Play: 3; Number of Sand Bunkers: 64; Acres of Fairway: 35; Fairways: Perennial Ryegrass & Chewing Fescue; Rough: Ryegrass & Chewing Fescue 3″; Greens: 6,400 sq.ft average Champion Bermudagrass overseeded with Poa Trivialis; Tournament Stimp: 11ft.
Fairway Widths (yards): Below are the fairway widths for TPC San Antonio – Oaks Course and how they compare to recent courses that we’ve seen on Tour:
Oaks Course: 25-30 yards.
Memorial Park: 30–40 yards.
Copperhead: Average 20 yards.
TPC Sawgrass: Average 28 yards.
Bay Hill: Average 30 yards.
PGA National: Average 28 yards.
Riviera: Average 27 yards.
Pebble Beach: Average 30-33 yards. Spyglass Hill: 25-30 yards.
TPC Scottsdale: Average 38 yards.
Torrey Pines South: Average 24-27 yards. Torrey Pines North: Average 24-27 yards.
Pete Dye Stadium: Average 33 yards.
Course Scoring Average + PGA Tour Difficulty Rank:
2025: 72.48 (+0.48), Rank 11 of 50 courses
2024: 72.51 (+0.51), Rank 7 of 51 courses
2023: 72.09 (+0.09), Rank 15 of 49 courses
2022: 71.76 (-0.24), Rank 18 of 50 courses
2021: 72.48 (+0.48), Rank 15 of 51 courses
2019: 71.24 (-0.76), Rank 28 of 49 courses
Course Designer Links: For research purposes other Greg Norman designs include:
Earth Course – DP World Tour Championship (DP World Tour)
El Camaleon GC – Mayakoba Classic
Signature Course, Vidanta – 2022 -2025 Mexico Open
TPC at Sugarloaf – 1997 – 2008 AT&T Classic
Course Overview: The Oaks Course layout is undoubtedly stretching, although winning score here – like across many Texas stop-offs – is dependant upon the strength of the wind. 2018 saw organisers water the greens throughout, on the basis of strong winds across the opening 36 holes of play. That, in tandem with firm fairways, allowed for short and long hitters alike to strategically score around here with Andrew Landry winning with a tournament winning -17/271 total. 2019 saw 10-15 mph winds throughout and a 60mm deluge on Sunday, which delayed play and saw the surgical, strategic duo of Ryan Moore and Kevin Streelman shoot a pair of -8/64s. Another ball-striking machine in the guise of Corey Conners won his maiden PGA Tour title at a course record low -20/268 total. 2021 saw Jordan Spieth use his approach and short game magic to master a set-up which always featured firm fairways and greens that released just enough. He won by 2 shots at -18/270, although only the top 5 made double-digits under par.
2022 saw J.J. Spaun win his maiden PGA Tour title with strong overall Tee to Green game, where greens were releasing over the weekend amidst gusting 20 mph winds. 2023 saw course expert Corey Conners shoot -8/64 on a softened course in Round 1 and never looked back, taking advantage of watered greens on Sunday to shoot -4/68 and ball-strike his way to a 1-shot victory over rookie Sam Stevens. And it was a similar story in 2024 where Akshay Bhatia led from gun to tape, taking advantage of a 2-shot PM/AM wave advantage and beat Denny McCarthy in a play-off, after McCarthy had shot an incredible -9/63 on Sunday, birdieing 8 of the last 9 holes.
2025 therefore was a shock to the system. Gusting +20mph easterlies on Thursday/Friday were followed by 25-30mph northerly winds over the weekend. Firm, releasing greens in Sunday saw Brian Harman shoot +3/73 and still win by 3 shots from Ryan Gerard – his winning total was only -9/279.
Fundamentally the Oaks Course makes you earn your rewards, with strong driving and strong approach play. 2022 saw a shorter course yardage, down 56 yards at 7,438 yards. The par-3 3rd and par-5 14th holes were shortened. The course now features all new bunkering after a Duininck Golf managed project started after Jordan Spieth won here in 2021.
This course though is still a stern test. A mixture of course length, intimidating tee shots, all manner of off-fairway hazards, plus undulating green complexes make this course a challenge. Greens are also perched up with fairways cut around them, taking errant approaches into collection areas. It’s hardly a surprise then that the greens here traditionally rank in the top 10 hardest to hit on the PGA Tour.
Finally, when you look at the last 8 winners here, Chappell ranked 2nd for SG Approach, Landry 1st, Conners (2019) 1st, Spieth 4th, Conners (2023) 1st, Bhatia 4th and Harman 2nd. Spaun was a middle of the road 23rd. For me on a course that traditionally ranks as one of the hardest for Greens in Regulation when the wind blows, and also in the bottom 5 on Tour for par-5 Birdie or Better Conversion, we need to look for players who are at the top of their game iron and approach-wise.
Valero Texas Open Winners: 2025: Brian Harman (-9); 2024: Akshay Bhatia (-20); 2023: Corey Conners (-15); 2022: J.J. Spaun (-13); 2021: Jordan Spieth (-18); 2019: Corey Conners (-20); 2018: Andrew Landry (-17); 2017: Kevin Chappell (-12); 2016: Charley Hoffman (-12); 2015: Jimmy Walker (-11); 2014: Steven Bowditch (-8); 2013: Martin Laird (-14); 2012: Ben Curtis (-9); 2011: Brendan Steele (-8); 2010: Adam Scott (-14).
Jimmy Walker: 31st Doral /41st Riviera/21st Pebble/7th Torrey.
Steven Bowditch: MC Copperhead/37th Puerto Rico/MC PGA National/MC Riviera.
Martin Laird: MC Houston/34th Bay Hill/70th Copperhead/MC PGA National.
Ben Curtis: MC Houston/14th Puerto Rico/13th Dubai/47th Qatar.
Brendan Steele: 51st Houston/38th Bay Hill /MC Copperhead/MC Puerto Rico.
Adam Scott: 26th TPC Sawgrass/MC Quail Hollow/18th Augusta/14th Houston.
Tournament Stats: We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s event that are well worth a look. Naturally they’ll help to shape a view on players who could go well this week: Current Form | Tournament Form | First Round Leader | Combined Stats.
My published predictor is available here. Top 10 of my published predictor are: 1) Russell Henley; 2) Collin Morikawa; 3) Si Woo Kim; 4) Hideki Matsuyama; 5) Michael Thorbjornsen; 6) Tommy Fleetwood; 7) Jordan Spieth; 8) Robert MacIntyre; 9) Denny McCarthy; 10) Rickie Fowler.
Our brand new predictor model is running alongside, where you can build your own rankings in live time, using the variables listed on the left hand side.
2025: Thursday: Thursday: Mostly cloudy morning and sunny afternoon. High of 92. Wind SSE 5-12 mph, gusting to 18 mph. Friday: Mostly cloudy. High of 88. Wind NE 8-14 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy. High of 68. Wind N 8-15 mph, gusting to 25 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy and windy. High of 60. Wind NNW 12-16 mph, gusting to 28 mph.
2024: Thursday: Sunny. High of 84. Wind SSW 8-12 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Friday: Mostly sunny. High of 84. Wind SSE 12-18 mph, with gusts to 30 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy with intermittent light rain showers. High of 81. Wind SSE 8-14 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Sunday: Mostly cloudy. High of 82. Wind NE 8-14 mph.
2023: Thursday: Cloudy. High of 79. Wind SE 12-22 mph. The first round was delayed due to fog for 3 hours 30 minutes. Play was suspended due to darkness at 7:23 p.m. with the entire afternoon wave yet to complete the round. Friday: Cloudy. High of 71. Wind S 10-20 mph. Second Round Mostly cloudy. High of 90. Wind SW 8-15 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy. High of 84. Wind E 8-15 mph. Sunday: Cloudy and breezy. High of 88. Wind S 12-22 mph.
2022: Thursday: Sunny. High of 81. Variable wind 5-10 mph, with gusts to 15 mph. Friday: Sunny. High of 83. Wind SE 12-16 mph, with gusts to 27 mph. Saturday: Mostly sunny. High of 86. Wind NNE 8-13 mph. Sunday: Mostly sunny. High of 87. Wind SSE 10-15 mph, with gusts to 20 mph.
2021: Thursday: Mostly sunny. High of 70. Wind ENE 10-20 mph. Friday: Mostly cloudy. High of 71. Wind ESE 8-16 mph. Saturday: Cloudy. High of 71. Wind ESE 10-20 mph. Due to thunderstorms, the start to the third round was delayed 2 hours,
30 minutes and began at 12:13 p.m. CT. Sunday: Mostly cloudy. High of 75. Wind ESE 8-15 mph.
2019: Thursday: Mostly sunny. High of 85. Wind SW 10-15 mph. Friday: Mostly cloudy. High of 82. Wind ESE 10-15 mph. Saturday: Overcast with intermittent showers throughout the day. High of 78. Wind SE 10-15 mph. Sunday: Due to inclement weather, the start to the final round was delayed from 9:40 a.m. until 11:40 a.m. Mostly cloudy in the afternoon. High of 72. Wind NNE 8-12 mph.
2018: Thursday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 78. Wind E 15-25 mph, with gusts to 30 mph. Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high of 64. Wind SE 15-25 mph. Saturday: Cloudy, with scattered showers. High of 75. Wind SSE 8-16 mph. Sunday: Sunny, with a high of 78. Wind N 10-20 mph.
2017: Thursday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 85. Wind SSE 10-20 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 86. Wind SSE 15-25 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy and cooler, with a high of 67. Wind NNE 15-25, with gusts to 30 mph. Sunday: Sunny, with a high of 74. Wind N 10-18 mph.
2016: Thursday: Overcast, with heavy rains in the morning. Due to inclement weather, the first round was suspended from 8:25 a.m. until 12 p.m. CT. Sunny in the afternoon, with wind NE at 5-10 mph. Due to darkness, play was suspended for the day at 8:10 p.m. and resumed at 8 a.m. Friday. Friday: Sunny, with a high of 81. Wind NE at 8-12 mph. Due to darkness, the second round was suspended at 8:11 p.m. and resumed at 8 a.m. Saturday. Saturday: Sunny, with a high of 81. Wind ESE at 8-12 mph. Sunday: Cloudy, with a high of 77. Wind SSE at 7-12 mph.
2015: Thursday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 62. Wind SSW at 15-25 mph, with gusts to 38 mph. Friday: Sunny, with a high of 77. Wind WSW at 6-12 mph. Saturday: Sunny, with a high of 78. Wind SSW at 7-12 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 82. Wind S at 15-25 mph.
Weather Forecast: The latest weather forecast for San Antonio, Texas is here.
Texas in April can be like 4 seasons in a single day and this year looks the standard mixed bag. Hot 29-32 degrees – 84-91 Fahrenheit across Thursday, Friday and Saturday, will be the background for likely rain (50% chance Friday and 80% Saturday), plus Friday sees up to 25mph south-easterly wind.
Sunday looks tougher still – 12 degrees Celsius is 54 Fahrenheit (you read that correctly). Winds across the whole day will be 25-30mph from the north-east with a 75% chance of rain early hours, making the course nice and soft.
There have been low levels of rain in the San Antonio area in the build-up, but with rain intertwined into the tournament week forecast that may well be academic.
Strokes Gained Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the WM Phoenix Open / Qatar Masters which includes both PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, where recorded. Player rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:
Top 25 SG Off The Tee: 1) Bronson Burgoon / Marco Penge; 3) Robert MacIntyre; 4) Jordan Smith / Collin Morikawa; 6) Ryo Hisatsune / Si Woo Kim; 8) Tommy Fleetwood; 9) Ludvig Aberg / Maverick McNealy; 11) Adrien Saddier; 12) Gordon Sargent / Neal Shipley / Jimmy Stanger; 15) Johnny Keefer / Keith Mitchell; 17) Rico Hoey / Gary Woodland; 19) Max McGreevy; 20) Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 21) Joel Dahmen / Michael Thorbjornsen; 23) Russell Henley; 24) Rickie Fowler; 25) Lee Hodges / Sepp Straka.
Top 25 SG Approach: 1) Collin Morikawa; 2) Ludvig Aberg; 3) Daniel Berger / Sepp Straka; 5) Tom Kim; 6) J.J. Spaun; 7) Austin Smotherman / Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 9) Austin Eckroat / Si Woo Kim / Nick Taylor; 12) Ryo Hisatsune / Hideki Matsuyama / Ryan Palmer; 15) Tommy Fleetwood / Jordan Spieth; 17) Alex Smalley; 18) Joel Dahmen; 19) Adrien Dumont de Chassart / Denny McCarthy; 21) Bud Cauley / Max McGreevy; 23) Max Homa / Keith Mitchell; 25) Lee Hodges.
Top 25 SG Around The Green: 1) Tommy Fleetwood / Brendon Todd; 3) Alex Noren / Brandt Snedeker; 5) Andrew Putnam; 6) Hideki Matsuyama; 7) Ludvig Aberg; 8) Si Woo Kim / Nick Taylor; 10) Eric Cole / Marty Dou / Beau Hossler / David Lipsky; 14) Kevin Streelman; 15) Sepp Straka / Camilo Villegas; 17) Brian Harman / Robert MacIntyre / Michael Thorbjornsen; 20) Tom Kim / Collin Morikawa; 22) Russell Henley / Matt Wallace; 24) Ryo Hisatsune / Maverick McNealy.
Top 25 SG Tee to Green: 1) Collin Morikawa; 2) Tommy Fleetwood; 3) Ludvig Aberg; 4) Ryo Hisatsune; 5) Sepp Straka; 6) Si Woo Kim; 7) Maverick McNealy; 8) Keith Mitchell; 9) Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 10) Hideki Matsuyama; 11) Adrien Dumont de Chassart / Nicolai Hojgaard / Matt Wallace; 14) Max McGreevy / Alex Noren; 16) Russell Henley / Alex Smalley; 18) Joel Dahmen / Nick Taylor; 20) Robert MacIntyre / Jordan Smith / Michael Thorbjornsen; 23) Tom Kim / Jordan Spieth; 25) Daniel Berger.
Top 25 SG Putting: 1) Bronson Burgoon; 2) Vince Whaley; 3) Robert MacIntyre; 4) Russell Henley; 5) Hideki Matsuyama; 6) Rickie Fowler; 7) Nick Dunlap; 8) Alex Noren / Chad Ramey; 10) Ludvig Aberg / Matthieu Pavon; 12) Ryan Palmer; 13) Kevin Streelman / Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 15) Matt Kuchar; 16) Beau Hossler / Mackenzie Hughes / Takumi Kanaya / Matt McCarty / Jordan Spieth; 21) Will Zalatoris; 22) Webb Simpson / Jhonattan Vegas; 24) K.H. Lee; 25) Stephan Jaeger / Maverick McNealy.
Top 25 SG Total: 1) Bronson Burgoon; 2) Ludvig Aberg; 3) Collin Morikawa; 4) Tommy Fleetwood; 5) Robert MacIntyre / Hideki Matsuyama / Sepp Straka; 8) Russell Henley / Ryo Hisatsune; 10) Alex Noren / Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 12) Maverick McNealy; 13) Si Woo Kim; 14) Adrien Dumont de Chassart; 15) Rickie Fowler / Keith Mitchell / Jordan Spieth; 18) Alex Smalley; 19) Michael Thorbjornsen; 20) Ricky Castillo; 21) Jordan Smith / Jimmy Stanger / Kevin Streelman; 24) Daniel Berger / Nick Taylor.
Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the Strokes Gained Stats of the Valero Texas Open winners since 2016 gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this test:
2025, Brian Harman (-9). SG Off the Tee: 44th, SG Approach: 2nd, SG Around the Green: 24th, SG Tee to Green: 5th, SG Putting: 6th.
2024, Akshay Bhatia (-20). SG Off the Tee: 6th, SG Approach: 1st, SG Around the Green: 2nd, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 24th.
2023, Corey Conners (-15). SG Off the Tee: 8th, SG Approach: 1st, SG Around the Green: 29th, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 41st.
2022, J.J. Spaun (-13). SG Off the Tee: 10th, SG Approach: 23rd, SG Around the Green: 13th, SG Tee to Green: 5th, SG Putting: 17th.
2021, Jordan Spieth (-18). SG Off the Tee: 38th, SG Approach: 4th, SG Around the Green: 3rd, SG Tee to Green: 3rd, SG Putting: 6th.
2019, Corey Conners (-20). SG Off the Tee: 4th, SG Approach: 1st, SG Around the Green: 58th, SG Tee to Green: 2nd, SG Putting: 26th.
2018, Andrew Landry (-17). SG Off the Tee: 9th, SG Approach: 1st, SG Around the Green: 33rd, SG Tee to Green: 1st, SG Putting: 8th.
2017, Kevin Chappell (-12). SG Off the Tee: 4th, SG Approach: 2nd, SG Around the Green: 32nd, SG Tee to Green: 2nd, SG Putting: 21st.
2016, Charley Hoffman (-12). SG Off the Tee: 8th, SG Approach: 16th, SG Around the Green: 49th, SG Tee to Green: 10th, SG Putting: 4th.
Strokes Gained Tournament Skill Averages:
SG Off the Tee: 15th, SG Approach: 6th, SG Around the Green: 27th, SG Tee to Green: 3rd, SG Putting: 17th.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the final stats of Valero Texas Open winners since 2013 gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this tough, desert golf test:
2025, Brian Harman (-9). 295 yards (46th), 50.0% fairways (34th), 61.1% greens in regulation (11th), 64.3 % scrambling (27th), 1.55 putts per GIR (1st).
2024, Akshay Bhatia (-20). 317 yards (8th), 50.8% fairways (33rd), 75.0% greens in regulation (1st), 77.8 % scrambling (8th), 1.59 putts per GIR (7th).
2023, Corey Conners (-15). 301 yards (52nd), 62.5% fairways (3rd), 77.8% greens in regulation (1st), 68.8 % scrambling (20th), 1.71 putts per GIR (33rd).
2022, J.J. Spaun (-13). 305 yards (46th), 64.3% fairways (9th), 66.7% greens in regulation (16th), 58.3 % scrambling (57th), 1.54 putts per GIR (1st).
2021, Jordan Spieth (-18). 307 yards (23rd), 51.8% fairways (49th), 58.3% greens in regulation (57th), 80.0 % scrambling (4th), 1.52 putts per GIR (1st).
2019, Corey Conners (-20). 302 yards (28th), 64.3% fairways (7th), 81.9% greens in regulation (1st), 30.8 % scrambling (70th), 1.53 putts per GIR (1st).
2018, Andrew Landry (-17). 298 yards (46th), 58.9% fairways (29th), 73.6% greens in regulation (1st), 78.9 % scrambling (2nd), 1.60 putts per GIR (4th).
2017, Kevin Chappell (-12). 297 yards (25th), 58.9% fairways (35th), 72.2% greens in regulation (3rd), 65.0 % scrambling (26th), 1.69 putts per GIR (14th).
2016, Charley Hoffman (-12). 301 yards (4th), 64.3% fairways (34th), 68.1% greens in regulation (17th), 65.2 % scrambling (42nd), 1.59 putts per GIR (2nd).
2015, Jimmy Walker (-11). 303 yards (4th), 53.6% fairways (45th), 70.8% greens in regulation (1st), 61.9 % scrambling (27th), 1.65 putts per GIR (5th).
2014, Steven Bowditch (-8). 297 yards (15th), 51.8% fairways (49th), 61.1% greens in regulation (15th), 71.4 % scrambling (11th), 1.64 putts per GIR (5th).
2013, Martin Laird (-14). 298 yards (20th), 66.1% fairways (8th), 69.4% greens in regulation (7th), 63.6% scrambling (37th), 1.71 putts per GIR (33rd).
Tournament Skill Averages:
Driving Distance: 26th, Driving Accuracy: 29th, Greens in Regulation: 11th, Scrambling: 28th, Putting Average 9th.
Let’s take a view from players as to how the Oaks Course sets up and what skill sets the course favours:
Brian Harman (2025): “Yeah, it’s been pretty good, controlling my distances nicely. It’s one of the demands this place makes on you, you have to really have control of your ball. Ball lands on the green, they’re a lot firmer than they seem, and if you’re playing from out of position it’s really tough.
Yeah, I knew I’d get some birdie chances on that back nine, just had to kind of survive the front, there’s some really tough holes. Got out of position a few times off the tee and really had to scramble. Really proud of the pars I made, 7, 8, 9, made a nice par there on 12, just trying to get a little momentum. We were kind of, all three of us in the group kind of all over the place for six, seven holes. Just a tough day, man. When you get around this place and the wind blows and the pins are tucked, it’s just a really hard day.”
Akshay Bhatia (2024): “You know, I figured after 14, so on 15 I knew that was a tough hole, I knew I had two tough tee shots coming in, 15 and 18. If I could just get out of there with a par, maybe birdie 18, just play it how we planned to, it would all work out. I thankfully birdied 15 and then 18 got a very good break and happened to kind of hit in the right spots at the right time and made birdie there.
So all in all, it’s a tough golf course, stressful golf course. I told my — everyone on my team it’s a tough track, you always feel like you’re on your toes and you’ve got to hit some really quality shots and hopefully I can do that this weekend.
I mean, just understanding where you can miss it, understanding your holes that you can attack and understanding the importance on certain tee shots. You put the ball in the fairway, especially on some tee shots, you have a great chance to make 3 or 4. This golf course, I don’t know, it just makes you focus that much harder. Even the par 5s out here aren’t easy to make birdies. Thankfully, I’ve just done a great job today.”
Corey Conners (2023): “Particularly in the first round my short game was great, hit a number of really nice pitches and was able to roll in some putts. Second round I felt like I hit it pretty well. Maybe a few more missed tee balls and iron shots in the second round, but the wind was pretty tricky starting out this morning. A lot of good things, felt like I missed it in the right spots. Tried to avoid the areas outs here that are very challenging and can give you trouble, so was able to do that. Yeah, control my misses and overall everything was great.
Yeah, I think it’s really demanding from tee to green. Some really challenging approach shots and it’s tricky around the greens. Especially after winning, I have a really high comfort level with this place and feel like I see the shots well and certainly know where you can miss it in certain situations. That seemed to be helpful.
Yeah, that’s important to take care of the par 5s, especially out here. It’s a demanding golf course, the par 5s are no gimmees, you’ve got to hit really solid shots, but left myself in good spots. Not really been able to go for the green on 8 and been on the green Round 2 and just in front Round 1. Put myself in good shape on No. 2 into the wind today, just in front of the green. Then 18 I don’t remember really ever going for it and had a hybrid and 4-iron in, was able to convert the birdie.
I like it visually off the tee and it’s very demanding with your irons into the greens. There’s some unique shaped greens, some skinny greens, big greens. You’ve really got to be in control of your ball and that’s something that I’ve always liked about this place. Yeah, obviously lots of good vibes from playing well the past few years.”
J.J. Spaun (2022): “I think the heat makes the course a lot different. The ball goes further, some of these par 5s play a lot shorter and obviously the firmness, so it’s definitely different than the last five years I’ve been out here.
Yeah, the wind picked up like kind of right when we made the turn. It was kind of blowing all day, but then it picked up heavier around the first and second hole, which is our back nine. Yeah, just made it tougher to hit fairways and guessing, most of it was like crosswinds, too, so you know, if you started too far in one direction, you can short-side yourself. It definitely picked up our last seven, eight holes.
I just pulled my drive into the trees. Had a shot and I had this huge rock right in front of my ball and I don’t know if that made the ball draw or not, but it drew left of the hole, which is the last place you want to be. And then I tried to bump it into the hill and that went over the green on the other side. Then I kind of left like a pretty straightforward chip like 15 feet short and just like an easy double. Yeah, it was just one of those holes where it could have been a lot better, but ended up being a lot worse.”
Jordan Spieth (2021): “In the fairway on 8, if you told my I could play in even par, I would have taken it, so no reason to get too upset on 9. I did for sure steal one. I had 208 to that back right pin. I was trying to just kind of cut it into the breeze and have it come down short of the ridge. The wind kind of stopped, so it got all the way back there and took advantage. I won’t make many birdies from that far out on that hole very often.
So I really like the way I played 18 today. Driver, 3-wood onto that green, and to hold that green is really, really challenging. I can use those couple swings for some confidence into tomorrow.”
Corey Conners (2019): “Yeah, it was great. I hit the ball really well. Never really got myself out of position except for No. 10, where I drove it a little right. Other than that, it was really solid ball-striking. I was able to make some putts. Basically took care of the holes that you need to take care of, the par 5s, and No. 5, a short par 4, I was able to make birdie. Other than that, just kept it pretty simple. There’s a few pins that are close to some slopes, so played a little safer on some shots, but struck it really well. So just tried to keep it simple and scored well.”
Andrew Landry (2018): “This is a good golf course for me, it sets up well for my driving. You’ve got to be pretty accurate out here. Like you said, the rough, I don’t know what happened but the overseed might have not came in as good as I guess they wanted and you can get some pretty sketchy you lies around those greens. Not sketchy as in it’s in bad shape, but sketchy as in the ball sits down and you’re having to hit some higher shots on some tight lies. But I luckily avoided all those today and I think I had maybe one and I made a par with it.
This place, all around the greens it’s really tough right now, tee shots as well. The wind’s kind of swirling all over the place. The greens, they’ve been really receptive this week. And I went to a new set of irons this week, new shafts, and it’s just made a total difference with being able to get spin on the ball and the height of it that’s coming in, I’ve been able to stop a lot more long irons now. It’s just been nice. It’s been a good treat that I’m finally getting some good golf shots out of it and here we are.”
Kevin Chappell (2017): “Missing it in the right spots is the key. It was windy enough you had to really think about what shots you can take on and, if you did, getting the ball in the right place. I was fortunate to be chipping back into the wind a lot and that made it a lot easier. The ball – it’s warm and windy is the recipe to hit the ball really far. So, we hit a few shots went 10, 15 yards further than we thought they would. Into the kind the ball is going nowhere because it’s blowing so hard. It’s a good mixture on this golf course, lot of holes run north/south. With the wind blowing out of south today, you know, you had a good mixture of both. For me I played enough rounds around here that I probably played every wind they have. So, you know, I look forward to the challenge. My game tends to rise in more difficult conditions so I look forward to that on the weekend.”
Charley Hoffman (2016): “Tee to green is very visual, shapes with the trees and it’s a tough driving golf course. I usually drive it pretty good and got to be accurate when you’re hitting in there. For some reason I’ve been able to roll the putter. Conditions are a lot different than normal. Usually you’re trying to land them short, today you’re trying to get them past the hole and suck them back. No rough, no overseeding. Premium on driving isn’t quite as much. You can hit them in the rough and have a shot at the green. There’s low scores out there, still going to make some putts in the right spots.”
Jimmy Walker (2015): “I still think the greens are going to stay relatively firm. Even talking to some guys yesterday that played that even after the rain, they were still getting some nice bounces and release after the rain. The fairways were obviously kind of not running as well. The rough isn’t like it was last year. Last year it was overseeded. This year they didn’t and the Bermuda has come back but hasn’t all grown yet. Driving the ball in the rough isn’t going to be, I don’t think, a big deal this week, just because it’s not very long. You can get some pretty nice lies in the rough. So that’s just a South Texas thing right now this time of year. The transition and everything is coming back.
They keep making minor improvements to the golf course. It’s really resonating with the guys. A lot of guys like to show up and play a tough golf course. It’s kind of the deal if you get bad weather you feel like half the field is out. They’re in a bad mood. There’s guys that enjoy coming and playing tough tracks where you don’t have to shoot 18, 25-under. We shot 9-under last year and won, something like that. It’s a tough track. The opening stretch here is pretty good. 1 through 4 you got to kind of have all your stuff together. You do have a par 5 in there but it’s really not too reachable by 90-some-odd percent of the field. It’s a good par 5. And then 3 is a tough par 3 and 4 is a great, tough, 485-yard hole with a tiny green. You got to be precise. It’s got some tough tee shots, got some tough second shots and the greens can be a little tricky to read. They’ve got some South Texas grain in them. It can play with you a little bit.”
Jordan Spieth: “Well, for one, the trouble isn’t the hazard. You’re going in to try to find your ball or you’re walking up thinking you’re going to find it in a good spot. And then when it’s not in a good spot, well, now I don’t want to find it. You want to play it as a lost ball. You get guys that are coming up and walking all the way back. That takes a lot of time. If it’s a hazard and you didn’t find it, you know it went in, take a drop there, that saves five to ten minutes on that hole. So because it’s so challenging on both sides of the fairway, you get any shots astray, which will happen tomorrow in the wind, it’s going to slow down the round significantly, especially if you’re trying to grind. Any tough course is going to play slow towards the lead groups because for whatever reason you’re normally grinding it out a little bit more. I don’t think it should change, no matter what position you’re in, but I do it for whatever reason, and it just happens. So, yeah, I just think because of the trouble off the tee that this course maybe could yield slower play than other places.”
For the record, here’s the breakdown of Bermudagrass PGA Tour victors in the field since 2008:
5 – Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth.
4 – Billy Horschel, Si Woo Kim, Chris Kirk, Camilo Villegas.
3 – Rickie Fowler, Russell Henley, Matt Kuchar, Ryan Palmer, Brandt Snedeker, Nick Taylor.
2 – Daniel Berger, Lucas Glover, Mackenzie Hughes, Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson, Sepp Straka, Jimmy Walker, Gary Woodland.
1 – Ludvig Aberg, Rafael Campos, Nick Dunlap, Austin Eckroat, Tony Finau, Steven Fisk, Tommy Fleetwood, Brian Harman, Garrick Higgo, Joe Highsmith, Max Homa, Stephan Jaeger, Tom Kim, Patton Kizzire, maverick McNealy, Keith Mitchell, Taylor Moore, Collin Morikawa, Andrew Novak, J.T. Poston, Seamus Power, Adam Schenk, J.J. Spaun, Adam Svensson, Brendon Todd, Sami Valimaki, Jhonattan Vegas, Kevin Yu, Will Zalatoris.
We face an interesting conundrum this week with regards the difficult Oaks Course itself in an event that can be very fanciful from a betting perspective. Let’s firstly start with my views on the course. It can be a beast of a track: -9/279 won last year in very windy conditions – or we have seen -20/268, -15/273, -13/275, -18/270, -20/268 and -17/271 totals. The strength of Texas wind and its direction can really dictate scoring, and it’s abundantly clear that when holes 1, 4 and 10 were made less challenging with green re-sculpting and fairway widening work prior to 2013’s renewal, difficulty was significantly eased. Even so, greens are contoured so putting is difficult and the fairways are some of the most testing the Tour pros will face this season – long and tight and surrounded by masses of trouble. Greens are hard to hit in volume and the putting surfaces themselves repel approach shots from pin positions very ably.
Pre-Major tournaments always have a slightly strange feel to them, but the week prior to The Masters, in recent times has been pretty difficult to read. 2020 saw the Houston Open precede The Masters, both played in November, and despite OWGR No 1 Dustin Johnson being right in the mix for victory, non-Augusta National qualifier Carlos Ortiz snared his maiden PGA Tour title.
Critiquing the April Masters “curtain raisers,” we know that the vast majority of the respective fields are ignoring Augusta on the basis that they are not qualified. Akshay Bhatia (2024), J.J. Spaun (2022) and Corey Conners’ first win (2019) here at TPC San Antonio fall into this category, plus Ian Poulter (2018), Russell Henley (2017) and Jim Herman (2016) across the previous 3 years played at the GC of Houston. And 2014 also saw Matt Jones win in this pre-Masters week with no Augusta qualification weighing on his mind. Extrapolate that to TPC San Antonio in 2013, where Martin Laird again grabbed a last minute invite to the first Major of the year and there’s a line of enquiry that suggests we look for non-Augusta qualifiers. After all, 9 of the past 12 winners of the Masters warm-up event weren’t already in the field for the following week’s main event.
But we have 4 exceptions. The first was J.B. Holmes in 2015. He was ranked 20th in the OWGR and came into Houston off of 2 runner-up finishes in his previous 2015 outings. Whether he thought he had a serious chance of putting on a Green Jacket at Augusta is open to debate, and instead he took the opportunity of lifting his 4th PGA Tour title when he was undoubtedly playing some of the very best golf of his career.
The second exemption is Jordan Spieth who we were on-board in 2021 at 16/1. Winless in over 3 and a half years, Spieth, who ranked at 53rd in the OWGR, has always been one that likes to hit Majors with a top performance the outing before. 4th at TPC Scottsdale, 3rd at Pebble Beach and 4th at Bay Hill in the build-up, Spieth with a more compliant driver was undoubtedly trending and he took advantage of a weak field to take his 12th PGA Tour and 2nd win in his home state of Texas.
The third exemption is Corey Conners. Conners and the Oaks Course go together like Phil Mickelson and Augusta National, so it was hardly the biggest shock in golf betting when he took this out at 20/1. Inbound form was solid and far from spectacular with 12th at the Sony Open his best strokeplay finish in the season prior.
The fourth and final exception is last year’s winner Brian Harman. His form in was similar to Conners – Harman’s best finish was 17th at the Genesis Invitational from 8 PGA Tour appearances including a missed cut the outing before at The Players – prior to taking this out at 70/1. He’d just dropped out of the top 12 in Team USA qualification and ultimately never received a pick from Keegan Bradley.
My Final Valero Texas Open Tips Are As Follows:
Jordan Spieth 2.5pts EW 16/1 (8EW, 1/5) with Betfred
Let’s start with Jordan Spieth who from a mentality perspective must be craving his first PGA Tour win since the 2022 RBC Heritage, rather than purely prepping himself for a Green Jacket challenge at Augusta next week. A weaker field and Jordan’s game in up-trending health – sign me up for the Valero this week.
12th at Riviera, 11th at Bay Hill and 11th at Copperhead, Spieth is trending. And you can see that in my 8-week tracker numbers, where in this field he ranks in the top 20 for Strokes Gained on Approach, Putting and Current Form, plus the top 25 for Strokes Gained Tee to Green. But what about his driving?
Well at Copperhead he gained 1.60 Strokes Off the Tee, which was his best performance since Southwind last August and tellingly his Driving Accuracy rank was his best since the Valero Texas Open 12 months ago. And if we look at his Total Accuracy performance (sum of Driving Accuracy and Greens in Regulation), 4th at the Valspar Championship was his best in that category since the 2021 Masters Tournament. Back then he had just won the Valero Texas Open the week before.
As stories go, just a week after Gary Woodland’s emotional win a 14th PGA Tour victory for Jordan, in his home state of Texas, almost 4 years after his last win and the week before The Masters, would be pretty cool. And with TPC San Antonio form of 10th (2014), 2nd (2015), 1st (2021), 10th (2024) and 12th (2025) plus a trending game and undoubted growing confidence, I’m certainly buying into it.
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Daniel Berger 1.5pts EW 35/1 (8EW, 1/5) with Betfred
Daniel Berger you feel will win in a weaker field sooner rather than later on the PGA Tour. 6th at the season opener at the Sony Open in Hawaii, he came to the fore on the Florida Swing where he led the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the first 71 holes before being hunted down and ultimately passed in a play-off by Akshay Bhatia.
8th for Strokes Gained Approach across the season, he unsurprisingly ranks in this field in the top 5 for the same metric across my 8-week Tracker, plus is within the top 25 for Tee to Green. He’s also in the top 20 for Total Driving, the top 30 for Driving Accuracy and the top 10 for Greens in Regulation – handy for the Oaks Course where trouble lies everywhere, not far from the beaten track.
30th here 12 months ago – he was 6th heading into the weekend – Daniel’s record in the Lone Start State is strong. 10th (2015) at TPC Four Seasons; 5th (2016) + 5th (2017) at GC of Houston; 3rd (2021) at TPC Craig Ranch; 1st (2020) at Colonial. He’s also won the week before a Major Championship in a couple of instances – when winning the 2016 and 2017 FedEx St Jude Classic prior to the U.S. Open.
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Ryo Hisatsune 1.5pts EW 35/1 (8EW, 1/5) with Betfred
Ryo Hisatsune is undoubtedly one of the hot hands in 2026 and I’ll stay loyal after a few investments over the opening weeks of the season. 2nd at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, 10th at the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, 8th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and 13th at The Players Championship sees the Japanese Number 2 up to 64th in the Official Golf World Rankings. He hasn’t made The Masters field, so can now relax and play his normal, high-level game.
22nd for Birdie Average, 27th for Driving Accuracy, and 3rd for Greens in Regulation in old money across the PGA Tour season to date, across my 8-week Strokes Gained Tracker in this field he ranks in the top 15 for Approach, the top 10 for both Off the Tee and Current Form, plus in the top 5 for Tee to Green.
78th (2024) and 5th (2025) here at the Valero Texas Open in 2 appearances, we need a putting performance from him this week, similar to what we saw here 12 months ago when he gained 2.43 strokes over the field (21st) with the flat stick.
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Denny McCarthy 1pt EW 40/1 (8EW, 1/5) with Betfred
With weather a likely factor, I’m going to go with Denny McCarthy. In this week’s Valero Texas Open predictor model he ranks 3rd in this field across our Wind variable and within the top 25 for Soft Course conditions, so that makes sense if conditions include rain which looks likely.
McCarthy is often a feature when chaos reigns. 3rd at PGA National in 2021 where winds were +30mph on Thursday and there were firm conditions on Sunday. 5th (2022) and 2nd (2023) at The Memorial Tournament played at the perennially terrifying Muirfield Village is testament to McCarthy’s grinding ability. 7th at the 2022 U.S. Open played at Brookline and 8th at last year’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow highlight technical, tough assignments are where Denny gravitates to the top of leaderboards in the main.
His record here on the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio is excellent. 20th on debut (2018), 18th (2022), 2nd (2024) and 18th (2025), I make that 1 top-5 and a further 3 top-20 finishes across 6 appearances. He shot a Sunday -9/63 to get in a play-off with Akshay Bhatia 2 years ago and ranks 2nd across our Valero Texas Open Strokes Gained Analysis for Total Strokes Gained.
12th last week at the Houston Open on a course that’s too long for him highlighted a player who’s coming into form – he ranked in the top 25 for Strokes Gained Approach, Around the Green, Tee to Green and Putting (naturally).
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Max McGreevy is an interesting bet this week. Outside the AON Next 10 and Swing 5 positions, a big week at the Valero Texas Open would be huge in terms of getting into the RBC Heritage the other side of The Masters. The 30 year-old from Oklahoma has yet to win on the PGA Tour, and his form here to date is poor, but so far on the PGA Tour he’s come alive on Bermudagrass tracks.
4th at PGA National (2025), 5th at Sedgefield (2022), 8th (2022) and 3rd (2025) at Port Royal, plus 2nd at Sea Island (2025) show a liking for Bermudagrass greened golf courses.
That links to last week at Memorial Park, a course which ultimately suits bombers as opposed to those who gain Strokes Off the Tee through accuracy. McGreevy ranked in the top 20 for both Strokes Gained on Approach and Tee to Green, but ranked only 71st for Driving Distance. A Friday -7/63 was noteworthy, as was a final 54-hole total of -11/199 which was T7 only 4 shots off Gary Woodland and 3 shy of Nicolai Hojgaard.
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