{"id":571378,"date":"2026-03-30T19:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/571378\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T19:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:49:10","slug":"the-first-look-valero-texas-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/571378\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Look: Valero Texas Open"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>JUST NOW<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"chakra-text css-lqkr0z\">5 Min Read<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"chakra-link css-1jfg7sy\" role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pgatour.com\/news\/the-first-look\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"chakra-text css-lqkr0z\">The First Look<\/p>\n<p><\/a>*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:&#8221;&#8221;;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774900149_689_image.jpg\" alt=\"Highlights | Round 4 | Valero\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"chakra-text css-16ejlxd\">Highlights | Round 4 | Valero<\/p>\n<p>*:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]><\/p>\n<p class=\"chakra-text css-lqkr0z\">A<\/p>\n<p class=\"chakra-text css-17sz9ey\">Change Text Size<\/p>\n<p>Written by Adam Stanley<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">The Valero Texas Open marks the final event before the first major of the year and with that, there are plenty who are using this week as a tune-up \u2013 and plenty more who are hoping to stamp the final ticket available to Augusta National Golf Club.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">This is also the final week for players looking to earn their way into the RBC Heritage via the Aon Swing 5.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">With the Masters around the corner, here\u2019s everything else you need to know about the second Texas tournament in a row on TOUR.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">FIELD NOTES: Collin Morikawa is back. After withdrawing from THE PLAYERS Championship after just one hole, Morikawa is set to make his return at the Valero Texas Open as a warm-up before the Masters. Morikawa, a winner already this season, has played the Valero just once before. He finished T75 in 2024. \u2026 The highest-ranked golfer in the field will be Morikawa\u2019s Los Angeles Golf Club teammate, Tommy Fleetwood. Fleetwood, fresh of helping lead LAGC to the second SoFi Cup championship at TGL earlier this month, has three top-10 finishes already this season. His best result at the Valero Texas Open came in 2024 when he finished T7. \u2026 Ludvig \u00c5berg also returns to action for the first time since THE PLAYERS and when he struggled down the stretch. \u00c5berg also has two top 10s this year and has had a bit of a mixed bag of results at the Valero \u2013 two missed cuts but a T14 sandwiched in between as well. \u2026 Russell Henley, Sepp Straka, Alex Noren and past winer J.J. Spaun are the other top-20-ranked players in the field. \u2026 Brian Harman will return to defend his title. No one has gone back-to-back at the Valero Texas Open since Zach Johnson in 2008-09. \u2026 Gary Woodland is also set to tee it up after his incredibly emotional triumph at the Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open \u2013 less than three years removed from brain surgery. \u2026 Woodland punched his ticket to the Masters with his win in Houston and now there are plenty looking to do the same. The final golden ticket is up for grabs at TPC San Antonio with the winner of the event, if he is not already qualified, earning his way to the first major of the year. This has happened in three of the last six tournaments with Spaun (2022), Akshay Bhatia (2024) and Corey Conners (2019) earning their way in.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">HIGHEST RANKED PLAYERS IN THE FIELD<\/p>\n<p>World RankingFedExCup4. Tommy Fleetwood6. Collin Morikawa8. Collin Morikawa11. Sepp Straka10. Russell Henley12. Tommy Fleetwood11. Robert MacIntyre13. Ludvig \u00c5berg12. Sepp Straka16. Hideki Matsuyama13. J.J. Spaun17. Si Woo Kim14. Hideki Matsuyama21. Ryo Hisatsune18. Ludvig \u00c5berg22. Daniel Berger19. Alex Noren23. Robert MacIntyre27. Maverick McNealy25. Gary Woodland<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: A handful of veteran PGA TOUR winners and multi-time champions will tee it up at the Valero Texas Open, with Ryan Palmer, Camilo Villegas, Jimmy Walker and Brandt Snedeker receiving invites. \u2026 Snedeker was firmly in the mix through 54 holes at the Valspar Championship before he struggled Sunday. But still he recorded a top-20 finish \u2013 best of the year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The next Signature Event on the schedule is the RBC Heritage. \u2026 The top five FedExCup points earners in the Puerto Rico Open, Valspar Championship, Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open and this week at the Valero Texas Open will earn spots in the RBC Heritage via the Aon Swing 5. \u2026 The top 10 FedExCup points earners through the Masters will earn spots in the RBC Heritage. \u2026 Despite missing the cut at the Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open, David Lipsky still leads the way in the Aon Swing 5. \u2026 Johnny Keefer, thanks to his T3 in Houston, jumped into the fourth spot in the standings, while Chandler Blanchet, Jordan Smith and Marco Penge are also inside the top five. Penge leads by just five points over the No. 6 spot. \u2026 With his T6 in Houston, Jake Knapp padded his lead in the Aon Next 10 and now leads No. 2 Nico Echavarria by almost 100 points in the standings. \u2026 Gary Woodland, with his win in Houston, moved to No. 7, while Nicolai H\u00f8jgaard, who was solo second at Memorial Park, is now No. 3 in the standings. \u2026 Rookie Sudarshan Yellamaraju, who finished T5 at THE PLAYERS, ended up T6 at the Houston Open and is now No. 8 in the Aon Next 10 standings as he looks to qualify for his first Signature Event.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">72-HOLE RECORD: 254, Tommy Armour III (2003 at La Cantera)<\/p>\n<p>TPC San Antonio record: 268, Corey Conners (2019), Akshay Bhatia (2024), Denny McCarthy (2024)<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Bart Bryant (third round, 2004 at La Cantera), Zach Johnson (third round, 2009 at La Cantera)<\/p>\n<p>TPC San Antonio record: 62, Trey Mullinax (third round, 2018)<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">LAST TIME: It was a cold and blustery finale, but in the end, former The Open Championship winner Harman closed with a 3-over 75 that was good enough to win the 2025 Valero Texas Open. Harman held off a hard-charging Ryan Gerard, whose 3-under 69 was one off the low round of the day (and was one of just seven rounds under par on Sunday), with two birdies on his back nine. Although he gave them back with bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16, his even-par 36 on the final stretch was the key to Harman winning for the first time since his major triumph in 2023.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">Maverick McNealy and Andrew Novak \u2013 who was in the final group with Harman \u2013 finished tied for third, while there was a seven-way tie for fifth including Thorbj\u00f8rn Olesen and Patrick Fishburn, whose 4-under 68s were the best rounds of the day in Sunday\u2019s finale.<\/p>\n<p>How to follow (all times ET)<\/p>\n<p>Thursday-Friday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel\/NBC Sports App)Saturday: 1-3:30 p.m. (Golf Channel\/NBC Sports App), 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC\/Peacock)Sunday: 1-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel\/NBC Sports App), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC\/Peacock)Thursday-Friday: 8:15 a.m.-7 p.m.Saturday-Sunday: 10:15 a.m.-6 p.m.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\">PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+ and consists of four streams:<\/p>\n<p>Main feed (Stream 1): Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the courseMarquee group (Stream 2): New &#8220;Marquee group&#8221; showcasing every shot from each player in the groupFeatured groups (Stream 3): Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groupsFeatured holes (Stream 4): Combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family:var(--font-suisse-intl), &quot;Suisse Intl&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:1.7rem;line-height:2.6rem;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0rem;position:relative\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"chakra-link css-vqpqpw\" role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/pgatour.cbssports.com\/liveaudio\/?PGATSITE\">PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATOUR.com\/liveaudio<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>Thursday-Friday: 1-7 p.m.Saturday: 3-6 p.m.Sunday: 1-6 p.m.*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-11jnzpa>img,.css-11jnzpa>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-11jnzpa::before{height:0px;content:&#8221;&#8221;;display:block;padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;}]]><img alt=\"Image for article.\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;object-fit:cover;color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774900149_518_47483_fallback.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mar 30, 2026<\/p>\n<p><a role=\"link\" class=\"chakra-linkbox__overlay css-1hnz6hu\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pgatour.com\/article\/news\/betting-profile\/2026\/valero-texas-open\/will-zalatoris-pga-tour-betting-stats-valero-texas-open-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Will Zalatoris betting profile: Valero Texas Open<\/a><a class=\"chakra-link css-1jfg7sy\" role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pgatour.com\/news\/betting-profile\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Betting Profile<\/a><img alt=\"Image for article.\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;object-fit:cover;color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2266648682.jpg\"\/><img alt=\"Image for article.\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;object-fit:cover;color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2266537640.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JUST NOW 5 Min Read The First Look *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:&#8221;&#8221;;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]&gt; Highlights | Round 4 | Valero *:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]&gt; A Change&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-571378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}