Valero Texas Open
TPC San Antonio (The Oaks Course)
San Antonio, Texas
*Rob Bolton joins me LIVE every Wednesday at 4 pm at TheZoneBloomington.com
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Extra Players to watch for Top 10, Top 20, Top 30, and Top 40
You do you. Stick ‘em wherever. Not listed in my columns above.
Bronson Burgoon, Ryo Hisatsune, Thorbjorn Olesen, Rico Hoey, Carson Young
NOW PLAYING:
| Host Course | TPC San Antonio – The Oaks Course |
| Yards (per official scorecard): | 7,438. |
| Par: | 72 (36-36). |
| Greens: | Overseeded Poa Trivialis; 6,400 square feet on average. |
| Stimpmeter: | 11-plus feet. |
| Rough: | Overseeded ryegrass at 3 inches (up from 2.25” in 2025). |
| Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play | 64/3/3 |
| Architect(s): | Greg Norman (2010). |
| Defending Champion (event): | Brian Harman (-9). |
| Multiple Champion(s) Entered: | None. |
| Course Record: | 62; Trey Mullinax, Round 3, 2018. |
| 72 Hole Tournament Record: | 268; Akshay Bhatia & Denny McCarthy (2024); Corey Conners (2019). |
| Fact of the Week: | The event has been the week before the Masters since 2019. |
| Fact of the Week II: | The four Par-5 holes rank, as a group, one of the hardest quartets on TOUR. |
| Fact of the Week III: | The last two winners have been left-handed wind specialists. |
Notes:
- Field of 132.
- No significant course changes for 2026.
- The top 65 and ties play the weekend.
- $9.8 million – $1.764 million – 500 FedExCup points.
- For those not already qualified for Augusta National next week, the only way to book a tee time is to win.
Notables
- The last three champions owned the outright lead after 18 holes.
- The last six winners T4 or BETTER in Par-4 Scoring.
- TPC San Antonio has played under par just twice in 16 previous events.
- The ryegrass/fescue fairways average 25 to 30 yards in the landing area.
- Poa Trivialis overseeded greens average 6,400 square feet and will not run more than 11.5 feet on the Stimpmeter (wind).
- The course tips at 7,438 yards for the fifth consecutive season.
- The Official World Golf Ranking is represented by 15 of the top 50 players, led by No. 4 Tommy Fleetwood, the highest-ranked player in the field this week.
Stat of the Week: Putting: Birdie or Better Conversion Percentage
The previous 10 champions have all ranked T10 or better in this category. Once GIR are found, it’s time to cash in! Birdies are NOT plentiful here; Take advantage of the opportunities presented.
Recent Winners
2026 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | No Event |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Chris Gotterup |
| The American Express | Scottie Scheffler |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Justin Rose |
| WM Phoenix Open | Chris Gotterup (2) |
| AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am | Collin Morikawa |
| Cognizant Classic | Nico Echavarría |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Akshay Bhatia |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Cameron Young |
| Valspar Championship | Matt Fitzpatrick |
| Texas Children’s Houston Open | Gary Woodland |
2025 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | Hideki Matsuyama |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Nick Taylor |
| The American Express | Sepp Straka |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Harris English |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Rory McIlroy |
| WM Phoenix Open | Thomas Detry (LIV) |
| The Genesis Invitational | Ludvig Aberg |
| Mexico Open at Vidanta | Brian Campbell (first time) |
| Cognizant Classic | Joe Highsmith (first time) |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Russell Henley |
| Puerto Rico Open | Karl Vilips (first time) |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Rory McIlroy |
| Valspar Championship | Viktor Hovland |
| Texas Children’s Houston Open | Min Woo Lee (first time) |
| Valero Texas Open | Brian Harman |
| 88th Masters Tournament | Rory McIlroy (career grand slam) |
| RBC Heritage | Justin Thomas |
| Zurich Classic | Ben Griffin & Andrew Novak (first-time winners) |
| THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Scottie Scheffler |
| Truist Championship | Sepp Straka (2) |
| Mrytle Beach One Flight | Ryan Fox |
| 106th PGA Championship | Scottie Scheffler (2) |
| Charles Schwab Challenge | Ben Griffin (2) |
| The 50th Memorial Tournament | Scottie Scheffler (3) |
| RBC Canadian Open | Ryan Fox (2) |
| 124th United States Open | J.J. Spaun |
| Travelers Championship | Keegan Bradley |
| Rocket Mortgage Classic | Aldrich Potgieter (first time) |
| John Deere Classic | Brian Campbell (2) |
| Genesis Scottish Open | Chris Gotterup |
| ISCO Championship | William Mouw (first time) |
| 152nd Open Championship | Scottie Scheffler (4) |
| Barracuda Championship | Ryan Gerard (first time) |
| 3M Open | Kurt Kitayama |
| Wyndham Championship | Cameron Young (first time) |
| FedEx St. Jude Championship | Justin Rose |
| BMW Championship | Scottie Scheffler (5) |
| The TOUR Championship | Tommy Fleetwood (first time) |
| FedEx Cup Fall | |
| Procore Championship | Scottie Scheffler (6) |
| Sanderson Farms Championship | Steven Fisk (first time) |
| Black Desert Championship | Michael Brennan (first time) |
| Baycurrent Championship | Xander Schauffele |
| World Wide Technology Champ | Ben Griffin (3) |
| Butterfield Bermuda Champ | Adam Schenk (first time) |
| The RSM Classic | Sami Valimaki (first time) |
Recent Winners – Valero Texas Open
Italics – not entered this week;
| Year | Winner | Notes |
| 2025 | Brian Harman (-9) | Shot 72-75 on the weekend and still defeated Ryan Gerard by THREE shots. Rough weather muted scoring. |
| 2024 | Akshay Bhatia (-20) | Knocked off Denny McCarthy in a playoff. Both matched the tournament scoring record and were NINE SHOTS CLEAR of third place. |
| 2023 | Corey Conners (-15) | Defeated Sam Stevens by one shot to become the first two-time winner at The Oaks Course. |
| 2022 | J.J. Spaun (-13) | Won by two shots to earn his first PGA TOUR victory. |
| 2021 | Jordan Spieth (-18) | Circled 24 birdies and won by two. |
| 2019 | Corey Conners (-20) | Monday Qualifier won for the first time on the PGA TOUR. |
One and Done – Spotter’s Game
Whatever.
| Event | Selection | Place | Earnings |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Robert MacIntyre | T4 | 409,500 |
| The American Express | Ben Griffin | T24 | 81,420 |
| Farmers Insurance | Jason Day | T38 | 41,760 |
| WM Phoenix Open | Sahith Theegala | T18 | 122,720 |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Patrick Cantlay | T14 | 342,500 |
| The Genesis Invitational | Tommy Fleetwood | T7 | 603,200 |
| Cognizant Classic | Daniel Berger | T32 | 54,816 |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Scottie Scheffler | T24 | 157,000 |
| THE PLAYERS | Collin Morikawa | WD | 0 |
| Valspar Championship | Jacob Bridgeman | T14 | 161,525 |
| Houston Open | Chris Gotterup | T6 | 322,987 |
Last WEEK – Texas Children’s Houston Open
There’s no reason to save Chris Gotterup.
With two victories already, he won’t be playing many courses, if any, from this point forward, where he can black out and just pump driver all day.
He can this week!
THE CHOICE: Chris Gotterup – T6
Others to consider:
Any of the European ball-strikers who were in it last week at Valspar.
Nicolai Hojgaard (2nd), Jake Knapp (T6), Sam Burns (T21), Wyndham Clark (MC)
I guess MY SECOND GUESS was better than my first! Too bad Gotterup didn’t WD!
Sigh.
Congrats to the Woodland Mafia on their incredible win. Is it dusty in here???
THIS Week – Valero Texas Open
What a mess.
WHERE IS COREY CONNERS WHEN YOU NEED HIM?????
Imagine winning this event twice since 2019, yet not playing!
The last two winners are left-handed players, right?
Let’s make it three in a row!
THE CHOICE: Sudarshan Yellamaraju
He wasn’t bothered by Pete Dye’s mind games against the deepest field in golf at TPC Sawgrass (T5).
A bit of length, 7,475 yards, last week in Houston didn’t slow him down (T6).
I am not sure he cares about what’s at stake this week with a win.
Hot golf is hot golf, and I’m riding the hottest player in the field.
I will save the top players for rainier days.
Others to consider:
Michael Thorbjornsen, Sepp Straka, Johnny Keefer, Denny McCarthy
Horses for Courses
Elder statesmen Charley Hoffman and Matt Kuchar are the top money winners entered.
Jordan Spieth owns four top-10s from eight starts.
Andrew Novak has a pair of top-10 paydays from the last three.
Here are the top finishers from the last three years:
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
| Brian Harman (-9) | Akshay Bhatia (-20) | Corey Conners (-15) |
| wins by 3 (Gerard) | wins PLAYOFF (McCarthy) | wins by 1 (Stevens) |
| Par 72 – 7,438 yds | Par 72 – 7,438 yds | Par 72 – 7,438 yds |
| 02 Ryan Gerard -6 | P2 Denny McCarthy -20 | 02 Sam Stevens -14 |
| T3 Maverick McNealy -5 | 04 Russell Henley -10 | T3 Matt Kuchar -13 |
| T3 Andrew Novak | T5 Adam Schenk -9 | T3 Sam Ryder -13 |
| T5 Bud Cauley -4 | T5 Brendon Todd | 05 Patrick Rodgers -11 |
| T5 Patrick Fishburn | T7 Hideki Matsuyama -8 | T6 Lee Hodges -10 |
| T5 Thorbjorn Olesen | T7 Tommy Fleetwood | 09 Andrew Novak -9 |
| T5 Ryo Hisatsune | T10 Jordan Spieth -6 | T10 Chris Kirk -8 |
| T5 Chad Ramey | T10 Mac Meissner | T10 Rickie Fowler |
| T5 Tom Hoge | T14 Ludvig Aberg -5 | T15 Hideki Matsuyama -7 |
| T12 Jordan Spieth -3 | T14 Andrew Putnam | T15 Nick Taylor |
| T12 Alejandro Tosti | T14 Sam Stevens | T15 Alex Noren |
| T12 Keith Mitchell | T14 Alex Noren | T15 SH Kim |
| T12 Sami Valimaki | T14 Keith Mitchell | T22 JJ Spaun -6 |
| T18 Doug Ghim -2 | T14 SH Kim | T22 Sepp Straka |
| T18 Chandler Phillips | T14 T B O | T22 Peter Malnati |
| T18 Matt Kuchar | T14 Rico Hoey | T22 Charley Hoffman |
| T18 Emiliano Grillo | T25 Brian Harman -4 | |
| T18 Corey Conners | T25 Max Homa | |
| T18 Denny McCarthy | T25 Lucas Glover | |
| T26 Matt Wallace -1 | T25 Corey Conners | |
| T26 Eric Cole | T25 Mark Hubbard | |
| T26 JT Poston | T25 Justin Lower | |
| T26 Harry Hall |
Glass Houses 