Valero Texas Open Preview 2021

Valero Texas Open Preview 2021

Dates: March 29 – April 4, 2021
Where: San Antonio, Texas
Course: TPC San Antonio (The Oaks Course; 36-36—72/7,494 yards)
Field size: 144
Defending champion: Corey Conners
Purse: $7,700,000 ($1,386,000/winner)
FedExCup: 500 points (winner)

Things to Know

• Due to COVID-19, Valero Texas Open was not held in 2020; 2019 winner Corey Conners returns as defending champion
• In 2019, Conners became the first Monday Qualifier to win on TOUR since 2010
• World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play runner-up Scottie Scheffler set to make second start at the event
• After top-five finishes in three of last five stroke-play events, Jordan Spieth will make his sixth Valero Texas Open start
• A Valero Texas Open victory is the final opportunity to earn a spot for next week’s Masters Tournament
• Tournament being contested the week before the Masters for the third time in the last nine years (2013, 2019, 2021)
• 23 players in the field are also scheduled to compete in next week’s Masters Tournament

Field Notes

• Four of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings, led by No. 9 Tony Finau
• Eight of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by Finau (No. 13)
• 82 PGA TOUR winners combining for 318 total victories
• 15 major championship winners combining for 24 major victories, led by Phil Mickelson (5)
• Four FedExCup champions: Jim Furyk (2010), Brandt Snedeker (2012), Henrik Stenson (2013), Jordan Spieth (2015)
• Eight past champions: Zach Johnson (2008, 2009), Brendan Steele (2011), Martin Laird (2013), Jimmy Walker (2015), Charley Hoffman (2016), Kevin Chappell (2017), Andrew Landry (2018) and Corey Conners (2019)

A look back at the 2019 Valero Texas Open

Pos.	Name	Score
1	Corey Conners	69-67-66-66—268 (-20)
2	Charley Hoffman	71-68-64-67—270 (-18)
3	Ryan Moore	68-70-69-64—271 (-17)
T4	Si Woo Kim	66-66-69-72—273 (-15)
T4	Brian Stuard	67-70-70-66—273 (-15)

• Corey Conners entered the final round trailing Si Woo Kim by one stroke before a 6-under 66 led to the win
• Conners became the first Monday Qualifier to win on the PGA TOUR since Arjun Atwal at the 2010 Wyndham Championship and the 15^th Canadian to win on TOUR
• Si Woo Kim held the solo-lead after each of the first three rounds before finishing T4

Valero Texas Open and the FedExCup

• The Valero Texas Open is the 27^th of 50 events in the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season
• Since 2009, five winners of the Valero Texas Open have qualified for the season-ending TOUR Championship: Zach Johnson (2009), Adam Scott (2010), Jimmy Walker (2015), Kevin Chappell (2017) and Corey Conners (2019)
• Zach Johnson owns the best finish in the FedExCup by a champion of Valero Texas Open in that season (No. 6, 2009)

Current FedExCup standings:

Top 10 at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship will be recognized through the Comcast Business TOUR Top 10. Updated standings are below:

Pos.	Player	Points	Wins	Top-10s	Pts. Behind	Starts
1	Bryson DeChambeau	1,565	2	5		9
2	Justin Thomas	1,508	1	5	57	11
3	Patrick Cantlay	1,280	1	4	285	11
4	Viktor Hovland	1,215	1	4	350	12
5	Xander Schauffele	1,155	0	5	410	11
6	Dustin Johnson	1,139	1	4	426	8
7	Billy Horschel	1,061	1	4	504	13
8	Harris English	1,011	1	5	554	13
9	Tony Finau	1,005	0	5	560	12
10	Joaquin Niemann	977	0	3	588	13

Players in the field at both the Valero Texas Open and next week’s Masters Tournament (23)

• Abraham Ancer
• Cameron Champ
• Corey Conners
• Tony Finau
• Brian Gay
• Lanto Griffin
• Zach Johnson
• Si Woo Kim
• Matt Kuchar
• Martin Laird
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Phil Mickelson
• Sebastian Munoz
• Ryan Palmer
• Scottie Scheffler
• Charl Schwartzel
• Jordan Spieth
• Henrik Stenson
• Jimmy Walker
• Matt Wallace
• Bernd Wiesberger
• Danny Willett
• Gary Woodland

Player Notes

Scottie Scheffler

• Dallas, Texas native and 2018 University of Texas graduate (Finance)
• Scheduled to make his second start in the Valero Texas Open (2019/T20)
• Comes off a runner-up finish in last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, his best career finish on the PGA TOUR; lost 2 and 1 to Billy Horschel in the Championship Match
• Three top-10 finishes in 14 starts during in the 2020-21 season, including two top-fives in World Golf Championships events (T7/Waste Management Phoenix Open, 5^th/WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession, 2^nd/WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play)

Matt Kuchar

• Making his 16^th start at the Valero Texas Open, and ninth straight; most recently, finished T7 in 2019
• Best finish at TPC San Antonio is a T4 in 2014 (finished T2 at La Cantera in 2001)
• Won the Consolation Match 2 and 1 over Victor Perez at last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play to finish third
• Best finish among 11 prior starts on TOUR this season was T34/Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
• In search of his 10^th career TOUR win and first since the 2019 Sony Open in Hawaii; has made 476 TOUR starts

Jordan Spieth

• 2015 FedExCup winner poised for sixth start in the event; two top 10 finishes (2^nd/2015, 10^th/2014)
• Three top-five finishes in last five stroke-play starts on TOUR: T4/Waste Management Phoenix Open, T3/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, T4/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard
• Former University of Texas player seeks a 12^th career PGA TOUR title and first since The Open Championship in 2017

Charley Hoffman

• Winner of the 2016 Valero Texas Open returns following a runner-up finish in 2019
• Since 2006, leads all players at the Valero Texas Open in top-fives (4), top-10s (6), top-25s (11) and cuts made (14)
• In 17 starts this season on the PGA TOUR, has three top-10 finishes: T6/Sanderson Farms Championship, T7/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, T10/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard
• Most recent of four PGA TOUR titles was the 2016 Valero Texas Open

Abraham Ancer

• San Antonio resident scheduled to make his fourth start in the Valero Texas Open (T42/2016, T58/2018, T42/2019)
• Two top-fives in 13 starts this season: 4^th/Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, T5/The American Express
• Looks to better three runner-up finishes with his first career TOUR title in his 111^th start
• Attended Sharyland High School in Mission, Texas, where he was All-Valley four years and a three-time MVP

Zach Johnson

• Winner of the Valero Texas Open in his first two starts of 2008 and 2009 (La Cantera Golf Club)
• Two additional top-10 finishes in eight starts in the event: T6/2014, 5^th/2018
• Winner of 12 PGA TOUR events, including the 2007 Masters Tournament and 2015 The Open Championship
• In 12 starts on TOUR this season, has posted three top-10 finishes: T8/U.S. Open, T6/The RSM Classic and T8/The Honda Classic

Ryan Palmer

• Four top-10 finishes in 17 Valero Texas Open starts (T9/2010, T6/2015, T4/2016, T6/2017)
• Winner of four PGA TOUR titles in 433 starts (most recent: 2019 Zurich Classic with Jon Rahm)
• Three top-five finishes in 11 starts on TOUR this season: T4/ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, 4^th/Sentry Tournament of Champions, T2/Farmers Insurance Open

Rickie Fowler

• Is not yet eligible for the 2021 Masters Tournament and can only get in with a win at the Valero Texas Open
• Has not missed a major championship since the 2010 U.S. Open
• No top-10s in his last 26 PGA TOUR starts; last top-10 on TOUR: 2020 The American Express (T10)

Sam Bennett

• Texas A&M junior making PGA TOUR debut playing on a sponsor exemption he earned by winning the Cabo Collegiate at TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course) in early March
• Closed the third (and final) round with a 5-under 67 to win the event
• Born and raised in Madisonville, Texas, a town of approximately 5,000 roughly 100 miles north of Houston

Tournament notes

• The 2021 Valero Texas Open marks the 11^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 five international winners of the Valero Texas Open, four of whom emerged since 2010: Adam Scott (2010), Martin Laird (2013), Steven Bowditch (2014) and Corey Conners (2019). In 1992, Nick Price defeated Steve Elkington in a playoff 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

The Valero Texas Open Preview is via PGA TOUR