SAN ANTONIO - Rory McIlroy is making his second start at the Valero Texas Open and his first since finishing runner-up at the event in 2013. McIlroy, making just his fifth start of the PGA Tour season, enters the week No. 26 in the FedEx Cup standings. Hideki Matsuyama, who will defend his title at next week's Masters Tournament, made his tournament debut last year at the Texas Open a week before winning his first major championship title and finished T-30.
World No. 16 Abraham Ancer, winner of the 2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, is competing at his adopted hometown event for the fifth time, but first as a PGA Tour winner. His best result to date was a T-23 in 2021.
Richard Bland, competing on a sponsor exemption, is one of 121 players in the field who can qualify for the Masters with a win this week. Bland advanced to the Round of 16 of last week's WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play where he was eliminated by Dustin Johnson. Bland would have qualified for the Masters Tournament if he had won that match, via the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Preview | Valero Texas Open
COURSE: TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course)
ARCHITECT: Pete Dye and Greg Norman
YARDS/PAR: 7,438 yards/Par 72
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $8,600,000/$1,548,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Jordan Spieth
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @ValerotxOpen
TV COVERAGE: First two rounds of the Valero Texas Open (March 31 & April 1) are scheduled for coverage from 4:00pm to 7:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. On Saturday, coverage is set for 1:00pm to 3:30pm (ET) on Golf Channel and 3:30pm to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC. On Sunday, Golf Channel only goes from 1;00pm to 2;00pm (ET) and NBC coverage runs from 2:00pm to 6:00pm (ET)
PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING on ESPN+: Streaming coverage from TPC San Antonio will be featured on ESPN-Plus Thursday and Friday with Main Feed, Featured Hole and Featured Groups from 8:30am to 7:00pm (ET). Weekend streaming on ESPN+ from 8:30am to 6:00pm (ET).
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage Thursday and Friday as broadcasts originate from TPC San Antonio from 1:00pm to 7:00pm (ET). Saturday coverage is 3:00 to 6:00pm (ET) and Sunday coverage on Sirius XM Radio runs from 1:00pm to 6:00pm (ET). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom.
How to Watch/Stream the PGA Tour Live: (ESPNCom)
How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)
The Basics:
Tournament site: Valero Texas Open
The Valero Texas Open - Tee Times start Thursday at 8:30am (ET) and go to 3:26pm (ET).
Weather: Thursday’s forecast is for sunny skies and 71-degree temperature with zero chance of rain. Winds at 9 mph.
PGA Tour Brunch will post at 8:00am (ET) on Thursday.
Next Week: The Masters
Texas Open - The Field and Tee Times:
The Field: (link)
Updates: Hideki Matsuyama did not play in the Pro-Am
Tee Times: (link)
Odds for the Valero Texas Open:
Source: CBS Sportsline
Rory McIlroy +750
Jordan Spieth +1400
Corey Conners +1800
Hideki Matsuyama +1800
Abraham Ancer +2200
Bryson DeChambeau +2500
Si-Woo Kim +3500
Keegan Bradley +3500
Chris Kirk +3500
Maverick McNealy +3500
Adam Hadwin +3500
Gary Woodland +3500
Tony Finau +4000
Jhonattan Vegas +4500
Jason Day +4500
Kevin Streelman +4500
Luke List +5000
Russell Knox +5000
Patton Kizzire +5000
Charley Hoffman +5000
Mito Pereira +5000
Davis Riley +5000
Sahith Theegala +5500
Rickie Fowler +6500
Brendan Steele +6500
Ryan Palmer +6500
Robert MacIntyre +6500
Rasmus Hojgaard +6500
Martin Laird +8000
Lanto Griffin +8000
Denny McCarthy +8000
Scott Stallings +8000
Ian Poulter +8000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +8000
Lucas Glover +8000
Matt Kuchar +8000
Doug Ghim +8000
Anirban Lahiri +8000
Richard Bland +10000
Matthew NeSmith +10000
Lee Westwood +10000
Kramer Hickok +10000
Chad Ramey +10000
Dylan Frittelli +10000
C.T. Pan +10000
Takumi Kanaya +10000
Charles Howell +10000
Troy Merritt +10000
Min Woo Lee +10000
Alex Smalley +10000
Brian Stuard +10000
Matt Jones +10000
Aaron Rai +12500
Matthias Schwab +12500
Danny Lee +12500
Branden Grace +12500
David Lipsky +12500
Pat Perez +12500
Taylor Moore +12500
Adam Svensson +12500
Nick Taylor +12500
Cameron Champ +12500
Beau Hossler +12500
Nate Lashley +12500
Doc Redman +15000
Chez Reavie +15000
Garrick Higgo +15000
Zach Johnson +15000
Austin Smotherman +15000
Brendon Todd +15000
Nick Hardy +15000
Brice Garnett +17500
Joseph Bramlett +15000
Wyndham Clark +15000
Greyson Sigg +15000
Adam Schenk +15000
Sam Ryder +15000
Doc Redman +15000
Hayden Buckley +15000
J.J. Spaun +15000
Andrew Putnam +17500
Kevin Chappell +17500
Harry Higgs +17500
Tyler Duncan +17500
Lee Hodges +17500
Hank Lebioda +17500
Ben Martin +20000
Vince Whaley +20000
Robert Streb +20000
Brandon Hagy +20000
Adam Long +20000
Patrick Rodgers +20000
Matt Wallace +20000
Graeme McDowell +20000
Luke Donald +20000
Ryan Brehm +20000
Andrew Novak +20000
Hudson Swafford +20000
Brandt Snedeker +20000
Trey Mullinax +20000
John Huh +22500
Max McGreevy +25000
Stephan Jaeger +25000
Kevin Tway +25000
Kyle Stanley +25000
Henrik Stenson +25000
Camilo Villegas +25000
Roger Sloan +25000
Justin Lower +25000
J.T. Poston +25000
Peter Malnati +25000
Ben Kohles +25000
Nick Watney +25000
Dylan Wu +25000
Henrik Norlander +30000
Andrew Landry +30000
Bill Haas +30000
Jim Herman +30000
TL’s Wedge for an Edge: This week at the Valero Texas Open, the famed foursome for Tee Els’ PGA Fantasy game (and two reserves) will include some horses-for-course in San Antonio: Corey Conners will get a start, along with Chris Kirk, Hideki Matsuyama and Tony Finau. TL’s bench players will be strong, just in case they’re atop the leaderboard on Friday night: Rory McIlroy and Justin Spieth.
For the One and Done: Corey Conners who placed third in last week’s Match Play in Austin.
What They’re Saying:
Monday Qualifiers at Valero Texas Open (PGATourCom)
First Look at the Valero Texas Open (PGATourCom)
Draws & Fades for the Valero Texas Open - (PGATourCom)
Power Rankings for the Valero Texas Open (PGATourCom)
FedExCup Standings (PGATourCom)
Industry News, #Sports Gambling and Daily Fantasy News
Tiger Woods Played a Full Round at Augusta (ESPN)
Seven Picks for Texas (Action Net)
Expert Picks at the Valero Texas Open - (PGATourCom)
Sleeper Picks at Texas - (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History:
March 30, 1975 - Davis Love III won The PLAYERS Championship by four strokes over Ian Baker-Finch, Phil Blackmar, Nick Faldo and Tom Watson. LOve shot a final round (67) to post a (273) total, 15-under par. - Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Parting Putt:
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