Everybody has probably gotten over their Masters hangover by now, yet the PGA Tour continues to roll along with another helping of a stellar tournament set to kick off in Texas this Thursday.
This Thursday, nine golfers from the top 30 of the Official World Golf Rankings will headline the 2016 Valero Texas Open for what should be an unpredictable affair. Let’s check out the most notable players ready to tee off at TPC San Antonio’s daunting AT&T Oaks course that have a great shot at taking home a pair of black cowboy boots on Sunday.
If you’re in need of more viable picks for this week’s event, check out our other sleeper and long shot picks for this week’s event right after this.
This list wouldn’t be complete without last year’s defending champ in Jimmy Walker (+1,600). The Baylor product, naturally, has found plenty of success on The Oaks in the past. Apart from taking home the title last year, Walker has two other top-20 finishes at the Valero Texas Open, with one being a third-place finish back in 2010.
While it’s been over a month since his solo-sixth finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Walker still has five top 15s this year overall, and he’s also quietly ranked 10th on Tour this season in adjusted scoring.
With a superb history on this week’s course and a sound performance for the year, look for Walker to deliver the goods once more, much to the delight of his hometown supporters.
Zach Johnson
Another golfer that has had equal amounts of success to date and on The Oaks is Zach Johnson (+1,400). Excluding a disappointing showing at Augusta, the 40-year-old veteran still has a pair of top 10s over his last three starts and four total in 2016.
As for this week’s tournament, Johnson has a pair of top-20 finishes at San Antonio: T20 last year, and T6 from 2014. And yes, some of you may mention that Johnson has won back-to-back Texas Open titles from 2008-09, but that was back when the tournament was still being played at the La Cantera Golf Club.
Nevertheless, the World No. 17’s form seems to take a new shape whenever he plays in the Lone Star State, so it wouldn’t be a complete shock if Johnson wins his third-career Texas Open title and first at TPC San Antonio.
Sleepers
Billy Horschel
With most of the bigger names in golf not found in this year’s installment of the VTO, other players such as Billy Horschel (+2,600) begin to stand out even more under this week’s spotlight.
Outside of Jimmy Walker, Horschel’s the one other true expert on The Oaks, and with more recent success at that. He has a pair of third-place finishes on the course – solo last year, tied in 2013 – to immediately bring him up to sleeper status.
What knocked down the Floridian’s projection in our eyes is that he only has a couple of T8 finishes this 2016 as his greatest accomplishments for the season. Then again, and after being cut at La Quinta to start the year, Horschel has earned a paycheck in nine-straight tournaments since. With that in mind, the former FedEx Cup champion is still as solid as they come considering the rest of this week’s field.
Matt Kuchar
In terms of momentum, Matt Kuchar (+1,800) is probably the most polarizing figure this season at that. Since his first start of the year, the Georgia Tech product has alternated top-15 finishes with subpar or just simply bad results. Just take a look at his order of finishes beginning with the Sony Open this past January: T13, T49, T8, T28, T11, CUT, T9, T24, T9.
As you’ll notice, Kuchar plays well in one tournament only to underwhelm in the next. Still, that’s a total of five top-15 finishes this 2016, and not a lot of golfers in this week’s field can brag about that feat right now.
At least he’s been consistent in his appearances at San Antonio. Kuchar made the cut in all four of his previous starts at The Oaks, including finishing tied for fourth in 2014 and with no finish worse than a T22. Maybe his streak at this week’s event will finally give him back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time this season. Or better yet, to ultimately win his first PGA event in exactly two years.
Long Shot
Bryson DeChambeau
There’s been quite a lot of buzz about how recently-turned pro Bryson DeChambeau will rule TPC San Antonio this week after a phenomenal month of action against golf’s brightest stars. Consecutive top-30 finishes from the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T27) and The Masters (T21) as an amateur is already impressive enough, but his professional debut and T4 finish at the recently-concluded RBC Heritage vaults him right into the upper tier of the VTO’s top contenders this week.
However, The AT&T Oaks Course is a different kind of beast on its own, and a lot of the Tour’s fixtures tend to avoid this upcoming tournament for its relatively high difficulty level. Take it from us: riding a 22-year-old that’s still very “green” on professional greens, especially on one that’s even tough for any and all golfers involved, is not a very sound move.
On the off chance that DeChambeau is actually the next Tiger Woods (or Jordan Spieth to an extent), laugh at us all you want about how we were wrong to not pick him as a solid sleeper let alone a unanimous favorite to win the Valero Texas Open. Until then, though, give the California kid a few more starts on Tour before you go totally gaga over him for your golf betting needs.
Writer’s Prediction
Horschel (+2,600) bags his first win of 2016 this Sunday.
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