This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Valero Texas Open
San Antonio, Texas
TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course) - Par 72 - 7,438 yards
Field - 145 entrants
Purse - $9.5M
The Preview
One final Masters invite remains up for grabs this week as the PGA Tour travels a couple hundred miles west from Houston to San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open, which serves as the last stop before the most celebrated week in golf. The nearly 7,500-yard Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio invites ample distance off the tee while featuring long par-5s and slow bermuda greens that are overseeded with poa trivialis to combat potentially windy conditions, given a Texan breeze typically acts as this layout's primary defense. A hot but relatively calm Thursday forecast could yield a plethora of red numbers in Round 1 before stronger winds arrive Friday and beyond, though there doesn't appear to be much of a wave advantage to consider this week.
Recent Champions
2024 - Akshay Bhatia
2023 - Corey Conners
2022 - J.J. Spaun
2021 - Jordan Spieth
2020 - No Tournament
2019 - Corey Conners
2018 - Andrew Landry
2017 - Kevin Chappell
2016 - Charley Hoffman
2015 - Jimmy Walker
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Approach
Driving Distance
Bogey Avoidance
Par-5 Scoring
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Ludvig Aberg - $44
Yahoo makes it easy to build lineups that include the undisputed tournament favorite up top at just $44, so expect significant ownership on Aberg despite a missed cut in his most recent outing at THE PLAYERS Championship. The 25-year-old Swede is top-4 in each of SG: Off-the-Tee, Prox: 75-100 and Birdies or Better Gained over his last 24 rounds.
Corey Conners - $41
A two-time past champion here at TPC San Antonio, Conners projects to be another chalky lineup anchor given his course history and current run of three consecutive top-8s from the Arnold Palmer Invitational through the Valspar Championship. Although we know him as a ball-striking specialist, the Canadian has made significant improvements with his short game since mid-February.
Glue Guys
Jordan Spieth - $35
Spieth posted the eighth-best SG: Approach performance of his career during his last start at the Valspar Championship, and he's gained at least 4.6 strokes from tee to green in six of eight prior Valero Texas Open appearances. The native Texan is trending in the right direction to contend for his first win in nearly three years ahead of the Masters.
Si Woo Kim - $34
Kim might go a bit overlooked at $34 after his missed cut in Houston last week, but he's fourth in SG: Tee-to-Green over his last 24 rounds, and he's gained at least 1.6 strokes off the tee in all seven of his previous trips to San Antonio. He also ranks seventh on Tour in Prox: 200-225 and 18th in Distance from Edge of Fairway on his drives this season.
Keith Mitchell - $28
This is a misprice on Mitchell, who belongs in the mid-$30s range after notching a season-best T18 finish at Memorial Park last week where he gained 5.6 strokes with his ball striking. He placed T14-T17-T26 across his first three Valero Texas Open appearances, and he's fourth in SG: Off-the-Tee over his past 24 rounds.
Bargain Bin
Gary Woodland - $22
Woodland rebounded from a mini-slump with a major bounceback at the Houston Open last week, firing a final-round 62 to ultimately tie for second, just one shot shy of forcing a playoff with eventual champion Min Woo Lee. Woodland's 8.7 strokes gained on the greens at Memorial Parked marked the second-best SG: Putting performance of his career, and he finished top-8 in each of his last two Valero Texas Open outings in 2021 and 2022.
Ryan Gerard - $20
Gerard's $20 salary isn't indicative of his brilliant iron play as of late, ranking third among this field in SG: APP and fourth in P3: 200-225 Efficiency over his last 24 rounds. He's coming off a top-10 effort at the Houston Open where he gained 7.7 strokes on approach en route to 19 total birdies and an eagle.
Bud Cauley - $20
Cauley joins Gerard as a popular punt play this week, with the former posting back-to-back top-8s in his last two starts at THE PLAYERS and the Valspar Championship. Over his past 12 rounds, Cauley is No. 1 in Birdies or Better Gained, second in Prox: 75-100, second in Prox: 175-200 and fifth in SG: T2G.
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