2019 Valero Texas Open Preview

2019 Valero Texas Open Preview

Dates: April 1-7, 2019
Where: San Antonio, Texas
Course: TPC San Antonio – AT&T Oaks Course
Par/Yardage: 36-36–72/7,435 yards
Field size: 144
2018 champion: Andrew Landry
Purse: $7,500,000 ($1,350,000/winner)
FedExCup: 500 points to the winner
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Twitter: @valerotxopen

For the complete list of Valero Texas Open Winners, follow the link.

2019 Valero Texas Open Preview Notes

• Valero Texas Open contested the week before the Masters for the first time since 2013.
• Nine players inside the top 30 in the FedExCup, led by No. 1 Matt Kuchar.
• Past FedExCup champions in the field (3); Jim Furyk (2010), Billy Horschel (2014), Jordan Spieth (2015).
• Past Valero Texas Open champions in the field (5); Andrew Landry (2018), Charley Hoffman (2016), Jimmy Walker (2015), Martin Laird (2013), Brendan Steele (2011).
• 2018-19 winners in the field (6): Matt Kuchar (Mayakoba Golf Classic, Sony Open in Hawaii), Adam Long (Desert Classic), Rickie Fowler (Waste Management Phoenix Open), J.B. Holmes (Genesis Open), Martin Trainer (Puerto Rico Open), Graeme McDowell (Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship).

Final 2018 Leaderboard

Pos.	Name	Score
1.	Andrew Landry	69-67-67-68—271 (-17)
T2.	Trey Mullinax	74-68-62-69—273 (-15)
T2.	Sean O’Hair	72-70-65-66—273 (-15)
4.	Jimmy Walker	71-69-67-67—274 (-14)
5.	Zach Johnson	70-65-68-72—275 (-13)
6.	Joaquin Niemann	72-70-67-67—276 (-12)

2018 Valero Texas Open Notes

• En route to his first career PGA TOUR win, Andrew Landry was the only player in the field to post four rounds in the 60s.
• Landry’s score of 17-under 271 marked the lowest winning total since moving to TPC San Antonio in 2010.
• Landry became the third player to record their first TOUR victory in the last five editions of the Valero Texas Open, joining Steven Bowditch (2014) and Kevin Chappell (2017).
• Landry’s win propelled him on to starts in the first three FedExCup Playoffs events before finishing 37^th in the standings.
• Trey Mullinax, T2, posted a course record 10-under 62 in round three last year.
• Sean O’Hair holed a chip from 55’ 1” on the 72^nd hole for birdie last year to shoot 66 and claim a share of second place.
• Joaquin Niemann, the former World No. 1 amateur who made his professional debut at last year’s Valero Texas Open, birdied his final three holes Sunday for a 5-under 67 to finish sixth.

Valero Texas Open and the FedExCup

• Since 2009, the winner of the Valero Texas Open has made it through at least two Playoffs events eight of 10 times.
• Four winners — Kevin Chappell (2017) Jimmy Walker (2015), Adam Scott (2010) and Zach Johnson (2009) have qualified for the season-ending TOUR Championship.

Current FedExCup standings: Top 10 at the conclusion of the PGA TOUR Regular Season will share a $10 million bonus pool through the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 program. Updated standings are below:

Pos.	Name	Points	Bonus Standings
1	Matt Kuchar	1,590	$2 million
2	Rory McIlroy	1,416	$1.5 million
3	Xander Schauffele	1,328	$1.2 million
4	Paul Casey	1,261	$1.1 million
5	Gary Woodland	1,076	$1 million
6	Charles Howell III	1,060	$850,000
7	Marc Leishman	1,034	$700,000
8	Justin Thomas	999	$600,000
9	Dustin Johnson	984	$550,000
10	Rickie Fowler	957	$500,000

Valero Texas Open Preview Field Notes

Matt Kuchar

• Overtook the No. 1 spot in the FedExCup with his runner-up finish to Kevin Kisner at last week’s World
• Golf Championships-Dell Match Play.
• Will be making his 15^th start at the Valero Texas Open, and eighth straight.
• Best finish at TPC San Antonio is a T4 in 2014 (finished T2 at La Cantera in 2001).
• In search of his 10^th career TOUR win and third of the 2018-19 season (Mayakoba Golf Classic, Sony Open in Hawaii).

Rickie Fowler

• Scheduled to make first-ever career start in the Valero Texas Open.
• Highlights of 2018-19 season include his fifth PGA TOUR title (Waste Management Phoenix Open) and a T2 (The Honda Classic).
• Has represented the United States on two Presidents Cup Teams (2015, 2017) and four Ryder Cup Teams (2010, 2014, 2016, 2018).

Sungjae Im

• PGA TOUR rookie collected a third top-10 finish in his last four starts at last week’s Corales Puntacana
• Resort & Club Championship (T7).
• Has collected a total of five top-10 finishes this season, tied for the fourth-most on the PGA TOUR.
• PGA TOUR Ironman will be making his 18^th start of the season, tied with Tom Hoge for most starts on the PGA TOUR; has competed in every event he has been eligible for, with the exception of the Puerto Rico Open.
• With last week’s finish in the Dominican Republic, moves to No. 19 in the FedExCup standings, tops among rookies ahead of Cameron Champ (No. 24) and Adam Long (No. 28).

Jordan Spieth

• 2015 FedExCup champion is scheduled to make his fifth start in the Valero Texas Open; 2^nd/2015, 10^th/2014, MC/2013, T41/2012.
• The 2012 Valero Texas Open (T41) marked the Dallas native’s second-ever start on the PGA TOUR (amateur).
• Winner of 11 TOUR events, including the 2015 Masters, 2015 U.S. Open and 2017 Open Championship.
• Looking for first top-10 finish since the 2018 Open Championship (T9).

Lucas Bjerregaard

• 27-year-old native of Denmark finished fourth at last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play; highlight of the week was defeating Tiger Woods 1-up in the Quarterfinals on Saturday; fell to Matt Kuchar in the Semifinals and then Francesco Molinari in the Consolation Match for third place.
• After entering the week with 95 non-member FedExCup points, coupled with 140 earned at the WGC- Dell Technologies Match Play, now needs just 31 points to equal No. 150 from last year’s FedExCup points list (Ben Martin/266) to receive Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the season.
• Previous best finish on the PGA TOUR was a T12 at The Honda Classic in March.
• Two European Tour wins at the 2017 Portugal Masters and 2018 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Graeme McDowell

• On the strength of back-to-back, 8-under 64s in Rounds 2-3 at last week’s Corales Puntacana Resort &
• Club Championship, notched his fourth career PGA TOUR title.
• With the win, jumped from No. 119 in the FedExCup standings to No. 38.
• Round three last week at Puntacana was highlighted by 16 1-putts (2-putted Nos. 16 and 17) for 20 total putts. The TOUR record for putts in a single round is 18.
• Will be making his third consecutive start in the Valero Texas Open (T27/2017, T51/2018).
• Won his first TOUR title at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, site of this year’s U.S. Open.

Tony Finau

• Poised to make his third start in the Valero Texas Open; T3/2017, T68/2015.
• Has claimed six top-25 finishes in 10 starts this season, including a playoff loss at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.
• Posted a winning record (2-1) as a member of the 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup Team.
• Finished inside the top 10 in the first three major championships in 2018; T10/Masters, 5^th/U.S. Open, T9/The Open Championship.

Joaquin Niemann

• Chile native and former World No. 1 amateur poised to make his second start at Valero Texas Open (6^th/2018).
• Niemann, 19 years of age at the time, closed with rounds of 67-67 on the weekend to finish solo sixth in his professional debut at the 2018 Valero Texas Open.
• Earned PGA TOUR card for 2018-19 with four top-10 finishes to finish inside the top 125 non-member FedExCup points list.
• In 13 starts this season, best showing is T10 from the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Jimmy Walker

• Poised to make his 12^th consecutive start in the event and 13^th overall.
• In addition to his 2015 victory, finished inside the top 10 in 2010 (T3) and 2018 (4^th).
• Winner of six PGA TOUR events, including the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club.
• Among four top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR in the 2017-18 season was a T2 at THE PLAYERS.
• Will be in search of his first top-10 finish in his 11^th start of the season this week.

Jose de Jesus Rodriguez

• PGA TOUR rookie, a native of Mexico, now makes his home in the San Antonio area.
• Won the 2018 United Leasing & Finance Championship on the Web.com Tour en route to earning his first- ever PGA TOUR card for 2018-19.
• Won four times on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and twice on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada
• Remarkable story of growing up in extreme poverty in Irapuato, Mexico, learning the game of golf and making it against all odds to America has been told worldwide.

Valero Texas Open Preview Tournament notes

• Players in the Valero Texas Open with Texas collegiate connections include:
  • Baylor University – Kyle Jones, Jimmy Walker
  • Lamar University – Justin Harding, Shawn Stefani, Chris Stroud
  • North Texas University – Sebastian Munoz, Carlos Ortiz
  • SMU – Kelly Kraft
  • TCU – Tom Hoge, J.J. Henry
  • Texas A&M – Ryan Palmer
  • University of Texas – Dylan Frittelli, Cody Gribble, Kramer Hickock, Beau Hossler, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Jhonattan Vegas
  • UTEP – Roger Sloan
• The 2019 playing of the Valero Texas Open marks the 10^th year of the event being contested at TPC San Antonio, a Greg Norman design with Sergio Garcia serving as design consultant. Adam Scott won the first Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio in 2010.
• Since 1970, there have only been four international winners of the Valero Texas Open, three of whom emerged since 2010: Adam Scott (2010), Martin Laird (2013) and Steven Bowditch (2014). In the fourth, Nick Price, defeated Steve Elkington in 1992 in sudden death at Oak Hills CC.
• Dating to 1922, the Valero Texas Open is the third-oldest non-major on the PGA TOUR calendar behind only the BMW Championship (1899) and RBC Canadian Open (1904). It is also the longest-running event on the PGA TOUR to be held in the same city.
• Seventeen players in the Valero Texas Open are slated to compete in the following week’s Masters Tournament:
  • Lucas Bjerregaard
  • Tony Finau
  • Rickie Fowler
  • Justin Harding
  • Charley Hoffman
  • J.B. Holmes
  • Billy Horschel
  • Martin Kaymer
  • Si Woo Kim
  • Matt Kuchar
  • Andrew Landry
  • HaoTong Li
  • Adam Long
  • Jordan Spieth
  • Kyle Stanley
  • Kevin Tway
  • Jimmy Walker

2019 Valero Texas Open Preview via PGA TOUR