PGA Tour 2023 - Valero Texas Open

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Who does everyone like for the Valero Texas Open? I would be lying if I said I wasn't pulling STRONGLY for Rickie Fowler to top the leaderboard as I would love to see him play in the Master's next weekend. He's been in great form this year and it's nice to see him return to a high level of play. Should be a fun lead up to the Master's next weekend and major season officially getting under way!

[cnosil]

I don’t really pull for specific golfers.  Rickie would be a good person to see win.  
 

[Splatt]

G’day Golfers,

The Masters is nearly here, the pros can almost smell Scheffler’s menu but, before we get there there’s still one more tournament to play.
It may not be a designated event, but some intriguing storylines could play out here at this sleeper tournament.
For most, it’s a final opportunity to qualify for The Masters and make that famous drive down Magnolia Lane.

The Valero Texas Open doesn’t pack the same punch as it will most years as a lot of the stars will move straight to The Masters next week, normally some of them would use this event, even if already qualified, to keep their skills and swing sharpened ahead of the seasons first major, but after already playing in quite a few designated events, a lot of them have chosen to skip this event.

The Valero Texas Open is held at TPC San Antonio, a 7,438 yard par-72 course featuring the standard 10 par-4s, four par-5s, and four par-3s. Standard doesn’t mean boring, but it can mean LOOONG and also interesting. TPC San Antonio is constantly ranked in the top 10 longest courses on tour and is unique with the par-3 16th being one of the rare holes in the world with a bunker in the middle of the green; if you’re wrong sided I’m not sure what the etiquette is on chipping on the green (I would definitely create a green-keeper maddening divot)
To finish the 18 holes after the bunker-green par 3 there is a driveable par 4 on the 17th and an always entertaining risk/reward par 5 on the 18th.

There’s a couple of exciting storylines that could emerge this week which I will be keeping a close eye on.

1.       Can a first-timer win?
Of the last 11 years of the Valero Texas Open, it has been the first-ever Tour win for 5 golfers, including last year's winner J.J Spaun, 2019’s Corey Conners, 2018’s Andrew Landry, 2017’s Kevin Chappell, and 2011’s Brendan Steele.

 

2.       Last Chance to play Augusta next week
There’s a whole list of names teeing it up this week that are yet to qualify for The Masters that will be giving it one last shot this weekend. For most, only a win will suffice.

 

Field Highlights

This week I’m going to concentrate on golfers not yet qualified for The Masters teeing it up for their last chance.

·         Rickie Fowler – BDR himself (I’ll let you figure out the acronym). Rickie is on somewhat of a return to form. He’s been working hard on his swing and he’s put together an impressive resume of results already this season. Some highlights: T-6 Fortinet Championship, T-2 ZOZO Championship, T-10 WM Phoenix Open, T-11 Farmers Insurance Open, and a T-13 at The Players. Is he back? I’d love him to be, but the jury is still out for me. But, if he wins the Valero Texas Championship and plays The Masters next week then I’ll be convicting him guilty of Return-To-Form. Currently ranked 59th in the world, he’s not too far from auto-qualifying for The Masters (maybe next year if his form continues), but a win is needed here if he’s to fly to Augusta next week.
 

·         Matt Wallace – A recent winner on the PGA Tour with a win last week on the Corales Puntacana  Championship, but it wasn’t enough to qualify as it was held on the same week as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Wallace missed 5 cuts in a row earlier this season (admittedly he did play some DP World Tour events in between), but you could definitely argue he has hit some recent form with a win last week and a T-7 the week before. Back-to-back wins are a hard feat to achieve on the PGA Tour, especially with a Masters invite on the table, so the biggest of good luck to him.
 

·         J.J. Spaun – To say he’s got an uphill battle is an understatement. At any tournament, defending your title is a rare thing but, JJ Spaun will need to defend his Valero Texas Open Championship title to gain entry to The Masters. What an accomplishment that would be. J.J. is high on my list of players I will be cheering for this weekend. He’s had a good, not great, 2023 season so far this year with 14 events played, 10 cuts made, 2 top-10’s, and 7 top-25’s. What makes me for J.J. is his missed cuts have all come at big events with high pressure: Farmers Insurance, WM Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational, and The Players. Let’s hope he can keep his nerve and get himself a spot next week.
 

·         Matt Kuchar – KUUUUUUUCH. Not the strongest season for Kuch, hence not already having a ticket to pass through the gates at Augusta next week. He’s played 11 events and missed 4 cuts, but his recent forms lend, even more, worries for Kuch. These are his last 6 events heading into the Valero Texas Open: WGC Match-play – T-9, The Players – MC, The Honda Classic – MC, The Genesis Invitational – solo-8, WM Phoenix Open – T32. My hopes are not high for Kuch.
 

Akshay Bhatia – Bhatia is fast becoming a favourite of mine on Tour. He’s the proud owner of a silky smooth swing and 5 cuts made out of 6 starts this year on the PGA Tour. He’s had a runner-up finish at the Puerto Rico Open and a T-24 last week at the Corales to name a few of his recent achievements. It’s more of a gut feeling with Bhatia that he has a lot more to give than he is currently giving us.

 

 

This is a bit of a later post than normal from me, so far I’ve had these posted before the first round started but I’m currently watching the first round start while finishing this off. Unfortunately, I had work commitments this week which meant tonight was the first time I had to sit down and put this together. My boss will be getting a strongly worded email regarding the importance of the My Golf Spy forum.

 

Golfers, that’s it from me. May your picks make the cut, and bring on The Masters next week.

[cnosil]

5 minutes ago, Splatt said:

 I’m currently watching the first round start while finishing this off.

Hasn’t been much golf yet; in another fog delay and they are showing the 2022 event

[Splatt]

Yeah they got like half a hole in or something haha

[GolfSpy_APH]

All I know is I want Fowler to win... nothing else matters!

[richk9holes]

My pick for this is Matsuyama running away from the field, so long as he doesn't aggravate his multiple injuries. 

I don't think he'd be in the field if he wasn't ready for a serious tune-up. Withdrawing from the match-play was an abundance of caution, imo, especially considering the grueling nature of the format.

[Splatt]

4 minutes ago, richk9holes said:

My pick for this is Matsuyama running away from the field, so long as he doesn't aggravate his multiple injuries. 

I don't think he'd be in the field if he wasn't ready for a serious tune-up. Withdrawing from the match-play was an abundance of caution, imo, especially considering the grueling nature of the format.

Fingers crossed he doesn't aggrevate anything. I'd be taking it easy if I were him

[Lee Stanek]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

All I know is I want Fowler to win... nothing else matters!

Yeah I am with you on that one!  He is right there....feel like he is ready for something big!!

[GolfSpy_KFT]

8 minutes ago, Lee Stanek said:

Yeah I am with you on that one!  He is right there....feel like he is ready for something big!!

It's been awesome to see him rejuvenated this year. Not easy to come back from a big slump and struggles that he dealt with!

[Rickp]

I’m definitely rooting for Rickie so he can go to the Masters.  Good kid who has had his struggles but working hard to get back to the top.  Go Rickie!!

[Splatt]

Tough day out there today, most hovering between +1 and -2.

Except, Patrick Rodgers and Eric Cole who both shot -5 today.