The Valero Texas Open
Preview for the Valero Texas Open: I think most of us golf enthusiasts have the Masters on our minds, but we’ll have to wait one more week until Augusta rolls around for its 2023 edition. The Valero Texas Open features a field as you might imagine before a major tournament – very average to below average but it should still be a good week of golf in San Antonio, Texas. This tournament is one of the oldest tournaments in the world as it dates back to 1922 when Bob MacDonald beat Cyril Walker to win by a single stroke and took home $1,500 as a result. The record at this event and on this course since 2010 is held by Corey Conners who shot a -20 to win by 2 strokes over Charley Hoffman. Winners of the Valero Texas Open over the past five editions include J.J. Spaun in 2022, Jordan Spieth in 2021, there was no 2020 tournament due to the pandemic, Corey Conners in 2019, Andrew Landry in 2018, and Kevin Chappell in 2017.
Tournament purse: The prize money for this week’s event is $8.9M, the winner collects $1.602M and also earns himself 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course) is 7,438 yards in length, is a par 72, and the sizable greens are poa trivialis overseeded. The winning score here over the past decade ranges from -8 to -20, and a large factor in the wide range is because we know the Texan winds can really blow hard at times. Some core key stats to hone in on this week, in order, include strokes gained: around the green, strokes gained: putting, strokes gained: tee to green, driving distance, and strokes gained: off the tee.
The field: We have 144 players competing this week, and the top 65 golfers plus ties after round 2 will play round 3 on Saturday and round 4 on Sunday. Some notable players this week include Corey Conners, Rickie Fowler, Tyrrell Hatton, and another decent talent will be on display also. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength a C.
DFS PGA Tour Golf Picks
Make the most of the data, predictions, and insights from this article to help with your fantasy golf picks for the Valero Texas Open. And check out our PGA Projections and Optimizer tools to make more informed player selections for your DFS DraftKings lineups. Best of luck this week!
Three questions that are relevant to the Valero Texas Open this week:
- Which 10 players have gained the most strokes total over their last 24 rounds? Tyrrell Hatton, Chris Kirk, Rickie Fowler, Nick Taylor, Sam Ryder, Adam Schenk, Ben Martin, Si Woo Kim, Brendon Todd, and Matt Wallace.
- Which 10 players does my custom model like the most? Chris Kirk, Matt Kuchar, Nick Taylor, Hideki Matsuyama, Matt Wallace, Brendon Todd, Rickie Fowler, Aaron Rai, Si Woo Kim, and Erik Van Rooyen.
- Which 10 players gained the most strokes total (minimum 8 rounds) at this event since 2018? Kevin Streelman (12 rounds), Lucas Glover (12 rounds), Charley Hoffman (14 rounds), Corey Conners (16 rounds), Andrew Landry (8 rounds), Matt Kuchar (16 rounds), Ryan Moore (12 rounds), Chris Kirk (14 rounds), Si Woo Kim (16 rounds), and Trey Mullinax (9 rounds).
All the best in your journey to win or at least be in the money in some contests this week – here are (in no particular order) 15 DFS golf picks on DraftKings (DK), plus I also include player salaries for DK. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performances at the event over the last five years, and add in some tasty data.
15 Players Who Are Either High-Potential or Solid-Value Plays This Week – Get Them Into Your DFS Lineups
Tyrrell Hatton (Salary: DraftKings – $10.9K) – He didn’t make it out of his group last week at the WGC Dell Match Play since his putter was ice cold, but prior to last week he had three top 6’s in his last four starts including a runner-up finish at THE PLAYERS Championship where he gained 10.42 strokes ball striking. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: None.
Rickie Fowler (Salary: DraftKings – $10.2K) – Fowler has been playing solid golf since last September with three top 10’s and four other top 20’s. His approach play and putting have been consistently solid since January, and he has two top 17’s here since 2019 while gaining strokes across the board in both of those. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – cut, 2021 – T17, and 2019 – T17.
Corey Conners (Salary: DraftKings – $10.1K) – The 2019 champ consistently finishes well since he’s a great ball striker, and he has been slightly positive in the putting department over his last four starts which is a big plus for him given his flat stick woes. Conners has gained an astronomical 33+ strokes ball-striking here since 2018 which is unreal! Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T35, 2021 – T14, 2019 – won, and 2018 – T26.
Si Woo Kim (Salary: DraftKings – $9.7K) – Kim won eight starts ago at the Sony Open, and since then he has five top 27’s in seven starts. He also has four top 23’s here since 2017 including a T4 in 2019 when he gained strokes across all major stat categories. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T13, 2021 – T23, 2019 – T4, and 2018 – T45.
Matt Kuchar (Salary: DraftKings – $9.2K) – Kuch has been all or nothing over his last four starts with two top 9’s and two missed cuts. He has been quite solid here with a co-runner-up finish last year, and three straight top 12’s. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T2, 2021 – T12, 2019 – T7, and 2018 – T51.
Ryan Fox (Salary: DraftKings – $9.0K) – What did the Fox say?! He has six straight top 27’s between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, and it’s because of his solid ball-striking game and his short game is fairly dependable, as well. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: None.
Cameron Davis (Salary: DraftKings – $8.3K) – Davis went through a bad stretch where he missed five consecutive cut lines, but has rebounded recently with a T6 at THE PLAYERS Championship and he had a T17 last week at the match play event in San Antonio, Texas. If he can turn his approach play around then he should fare well again this week as he has been outstanding via his short gameplay gaining 10+ strokes combined over his past two starts. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T69.
Aaron Rai (Salary: DraftKings – $7.9K) – Rai has been sound in the ball-striking category since late last month, but it’s his putter that’s holding him back. He does have two top 29’s over his last four starts including a T19 at THE PLAYERS, so I’m cautiously optimistic that he can improve on his T29 from last year. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T29.
Brendon Todd (Salary: DraftKings – $7.9K) – I really like that Todd had a top 10 here a year ago, a T2 at Pebble Beach five starts ago, and he’s coming off a T27 at THE PLAYERS. He also had a T6 here in 2014 and a T30 in 2015, and has really dominated the greens here along with tight around-the-green play. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T8.
Ben Martin (Salary: DraftKings – $7.1K) – Martin has been making some noise since early February with two top 8’s and a T13 over his last five starts. His stats look quite good, and although he hasn’t lit this event up just yet, he did have a T34 two years ago and is 4/5 since 2011. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T63, 2021 – T34, and 2018 – T45.
David Lingmerth (Salary: DraftKings – $7.1K) – I got respect for Lingmerth who has two top 10’s over his last four tournaments played and is coming off a T27 at the Valspar Championship. He really caught a lot of people’s attention at THE PLAYERS finishing T6 thanks to gaining 6.93 strokes ball-striking and another 5.10 with his putter. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2018 – T51.
MJ Daffue (Salary: DraftKings – $7.0K) – Not a bad little run for Daffue with three top 29s over his last four starts, and he has made five straight cut lines. He doesn’t have much consistency in his stat line, but can pop with his putter and in ball-striking. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: None.
Lucas Glover (Salary: DraftKings – $6.9K) – Glover is mostly here for his strong course history with three consecutive top 18’s including a 4th two years ago gaining 10.42 strokes ball-striking and 2.17 with his short game. He has been better than average over his last two starts with a T51 at THE PLAYERS and a T36 at the Valspar Championship, so I’m hopeful that Lucas can have a top 20 this week. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T18, 2021 – T4, 2019 – T14.
Matt Wallace (Salary: DraftKings – $8.5K) – It’s hard to know what to do with Wallace this week as he’s coming off the win at the Corales Puntacana Championship and had a top 3 here two years ago. He also had a T7 two starts ago, and has three top 29’s over his last four PGA Tour starts. He also had a good run on the DP World Tour earlier this year going 2nd-T20-T16. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – cut and 2021 – T3.
Kevin Streelman (Salary: DraftKings – $7.0K) – Here’s another horse for the course as Streelman has made eight consecutive cut lines here dating back to 2008, two of those were top 8’s, and four of those were top 19’s. He hasn’t been too good as of late, but is coming off a T27 at the Valspar Championship where he gained 4.70 strokes ball-striking. He’s worth rolling out in some of your stars and scrubs lineups this week, and could really make a big impact, especially for a $6K golfer. Valero Texas Open finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T18, 2019 – T6, and 2018 – T8.
