PGA Tour Brunch | Valero Texas Open
Preview of the 2026 Valero Texas Open | TPC San Antonio
By TERRY LYONS, Editor Digital Sports Desk
SAN ANTONIO - Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch coverage of the 2026 Valero Texas Open in this fantastic, but hot, Alamo City.
This week’s field includes 15 of the Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, headlined by two players inside the Top 10:
No. 4 Tommy Fleetwood
No. 10 Russell Henley
The last spot in the Masters Tournament is available to the winner of the Valero Texas Open, if not otherwise qualified. There are currently 22 players in the field that are exempt for the Masters Tournament, with the majority of the field having a chance to earn that final spot in the Masters Tournament field.
Three of the last six winners of the Valero Texas Open qualified for the Masters Tournament with their victory (2019/Corey Conners, 2022/J.J. Spaun, 2024/Akshay Bhatia). Only Connors is playing this week.
Players in the field already invited to the Masters: Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Max Homa, Johnny Keefer, Michael Kim, Si Woo Kim, Haotong Li, Robert MacIntyre, Hideki Matsuyama, Matt McCarty, Maverick McNealy, Alex Noren, Andrew Novak, Marco Penge, Kristoffer Reitan, J.J. Spaun, Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka, Nick Taylor, and Sami Valimaki
Johnny Keefer, a PGA TOUR rookie and San Antonio resident, is making his tournament debut this week. He is coming off his best finish in 14 career PGA TOUR starts with a T3 at last week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open.
In his rookie season on TOUR, owns five made cuts in eight starts and sits at No. 60 in the FedEx Cup standings. He played five seasons collegiately at Baylor University where he broke the school record for career scoring average (71.45) previously established by six-time PGA TOUR winner Jimmy Walker (71.55 from 1997-2001).
Gary Woodland, Nicolai Højgaard, Daniel Berger, Ricky Castillo and David Lipsky were amongst the stampede of WDs from the tournament.
Collin Morikawa, who was in the field until Tuesday morning when he withdrew due to a lingering back injury her suffered at The Players.
Valero Texas Open | Tournament Facts
COURSE: TPC San Antonio
YARDS/PAR: 7,438 yards/Par 72
ARCHITECTS: Pete Dye/Greg Norman
PRIZE Money - Purse: $9,800,000/Winner: $1,764,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Brian Harmon
PAST RESULTS: (link)
FEDEx CUP: Points to Winner: 500
TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW: (link)
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @valerotxopen
Valero Texas Open | The Basics
The Tee Times at TPC San Antonio will run from 8:30am (ET) to 3:30pm (ET) Thursday.
Weather: Thursday’s forecast is for mostly sunny skies but a 40% chance of rain throughout the day. Temps reaching a scorching 86-degrees with winds blowing at 14 mph. Heavy rains expected Saturday.
Tournament Hub: (link)
FedEx Cup Info: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch will post before 8:00am (EDT) Thursday.
Valero Texas Open | Field/Updates, Tee Times and Leaderboard
The Field: (link)
Updates:
Friday. March 27
Ryan Gerard WD / Matt Kuchar IN
Saturday, March 28
Isaiah Salinda WD / Justin Lower IN
Aaron Wise WD / Taylor Moore IN
Sunday, March 29
Bronson Burgoon IN (top 10 previous event)
Ryan Palmer IN (unrestricted sponsor exemption)
Monday, March 30
Pierceson Coody WD / Taylor Moore IN
Nicolai Højgaard WD / Joel Dahmen IN
Matti Schmid WD / Sam Ryder IN
Gary Woodland WD / Jackson Suber IN
Nick Hardy IN (open qualifier)
Charlie Crockett IN (open qualifier)
Tuesday, March 31
Daniel Berger WD / Lanto Griffin IN
Collin Morikawa WD / Frankie Capan III IN
David Lipsky WD / Carson Young IN
Ricky Castillo WD / Chan Kim IN
Tee Times: (link)
Tournament Leaderboard: (link)
Last Year’s Leaderboard: (PGATourCom)
Last Week’s Leaderboard: (PGATourCom)
Valero Texas Open | Tournament Odds | TL Picks
Source: CBS Sportsline
Tommy Fleetwood +1500
Ludvig Åberg +1500
Jordan Spieth +1600
Russell Henley +1600
Robert MacIntyre +2000
Si Woo Kim +2200
Sepp Straka +2200
Hideki Matsuyama +2200
Michael Thorbjornsen +3000
Rickie Fowler +3000
Maverick McNealy +3000
J.J. Spaun +3300
Denny McCarthy +3300
Keith Mitchell +3300
Alex Noren +3300
Ryo Hisatsune +3500
Johnny Keefer +4000
Sudarshan Yellamaraju +4500
Nick Taylor +5500
Marco Penge +5500
Thorbjørn Olesen +5500
Will Zalatoris+6000
Brian Harman +6000
Richard Hoey +6000
Alex Smalley +6500
Jordan Smith +6500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +6500
Tony Finau +6500
Stephan Jaeger +6500
Mac Meissner +6500
Austin Smotherman +7000
Davis Thompson +7000
Matt Wallace +7000
J.T. Poston +7000
Chris Kirk +8000
Patrick Rodgers +8000
Max McGreevy +8000
TL’s Wedge for an Edge: The pick machine says: Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama and Johnny Keefer. The two reserves: Marco Penge and Robert MacIntyre.
For the Tour One and Done? Keefer
What They’re Saying
Five Questions on the Road to The Masters (PGATourCom)
Power Rankings for Texas Open (PGATourCom)
Morikawa Withdraws (CBS Sports HQ)
How to Watch on Thursday - Valero Texas Open (PGATourCom)
Sports Gambling, Daily Fantasy and Industry News
Best Bets for the Valero Texas Open - (Covers)
Expert Picks for Texas Open - (PGATourCom)
Tiger Woods Update (ESPN)
On This Day in Golf History
No News from April 1st - Ever!
-Happy April Fools Day -
Parting Putt
Gary Woodland’s Inspirational Weekend:
Next Up
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