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More than 80 percent of Valero Texas Open field needs a victory to qualify for the Masters

Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
·6 min read
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Corey Conners, playing in the third round of The Players Championship last month, won the 2019 Valero Texas Open to nail down the final qualifying spot for the Masters Tournament. Conners is the defending champion in San Antonio this week.
Corey Conners, playing in the third round of The Players Championship last month, won the 2019 Valero Texas Open to nail down the final qualifying spot for the Masters Tournament. Conners is the defending champion in San Antonio this week.

San Antonio will be Last Chance Gulch for 126 players in the field for this week’s PGA Tour Valero Texas Open.

The list includes four major champions, two past FedEx Cup champions, 33 past Tour winners and two past Players champions.

They’re all chasing the same lifeline: win to get in next week’s Masters Tournament.

The Masters field is set except for a spot held open for the winner this week at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course. There are 30 players in the field already eligible for the Masters, led by British Open champion Brian Harman, four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, three-time major winner (and 2015 Masters champion) Jordan Spieth, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama.

Among the players who need a victory this week to punch their tickets to Augusta National:

  • FedEx Cup champions Billy Horschel of Ponte Vedra Beach and Brandt Snedeker; and past Players champions Matt Kuchar and Webb Simpson (who won the 2012 U.S. Open).

  • PGA Tour Champions members and major champions Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink.

  • European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald.

  • Winners of multiple PGA Tour events such as Jimmy Walker (also the 2016 PGA champion), Russell Henley, Charley Hoffman, J.B. Holmes and Ryan Moore.

Long odds indeed ... but there’s recent history of one player overcoming them. Defending Texas Open champion Corey Conners won the first of his two titles at TPC San Antonio in 2019, after securing the final spot in a Monday qualifier. He earned his first professional start in the Masters, tied for 46th, then racked up three top-10 finishes in a row.

So it can be done.

Billy Horschel is trending up

A missed cut at The Players Championship might just have been a blip on the radar for Horschel.

He’s still trending up and has a chance this week in San Antonio to qualify for his first Tour Signature Event.

Billy Horschel of Ponte Vedra Beach can qualify for his first PGA Tour Signature Event with a good showing this week at the Valero Texas Open.
Billy Horschel of Ponte Vedra Beach can qualify for his first PGA Tour Signature Event with a good showing this week at the Valero Texas Open.

Horschel is fifth on the current Aon Swing 5 standings and with another good finish this week can get into the field for the RBC Heritage April 18-21 at Hilton Head, the next Signature Event.

Horschel tied for ninth at the Cognizant Classic two weeks before The Players but bounced back from failing to reach the weekend at the Stadium Course by tying for 12th at the Valspar Championship and tying for seventh last week at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

One good sign: he’s shot 64, 67 and 66 in his last three Sunday rounds.

Another omen: Horschel has three top-five finishes in nine starts at the Texas Open.

“To play well the last couple weeks to finally get myself in a position to be able to qualify for one of the Signature Events is huge,” Horschel said on Tuesday during a news conference at the TPC San Antonio. “Hopefully I can have another good week here, secure my spot into Hilton Head ... I love that event, such a great event. I’ve had success there as well so we’ll see what happens.”

Billy Horschel is becoming a Swiftie

Horschel has arrived in San Antonio sporting a bracket that says, “Fearless.”

There’s a back story and it all starts with Taylor Swift.

Horschel’s wife Brittany and their two daughters Skylar and Colbie are huge Swift fans, especially after going to one of her concerts last year in Atlanta.

Horschel described the Swift influence as “massive in my household.”

After missing the cut in The Players, Horschel told his wife that he needed to be “fearless,” which also is the title of one Swift’s hits.

Horschel told his wife he was going to write “fearless” on his arm with a Sharpie because he said he had a dream where he saw that word on his left wrist. But instead of using a Sharpie, Brittany Horschel made her husband a bracelet with the word.

“I'm not the biggest Swiftie,” he admitted. “I get asked about it a lot from the fans now when I sign autographs. They ask if I'm a Swiftie or are they friendship bracelets or anything. It's a cool little thing, but also just puts me in the right mind frame of when I'm playing golf of what I want to be thinking about.”

Charley Hoffman makes start No. 500

Hoffman, who won the 2016 Texas Open, will make his 500th career PGA Tour start this week in San Antonio, the third year in a row that a veteran has reached that milestone at the TPC San Antonio.

Charley Hoffman will become the third PGA Tour player in three years to make his 500th career start at the Valero Texas Open.
Charley Hoffman will become the third PGA Tour player in three years to make his 500th career start at the Valero Texas Open.

Matt Kuchar made his 500th start in the 2022 Texas Open (tying for second) and Lucas Glover did it last year (tying for 45th).

Hoffman is the second player to reach 500 starts this season. Ryan Palmer made it at the Cognizant Classic.

Next up: Zach Johnson of St. Simons Island, Ga., who will make his 497th start this week and his 498th next week in the Masters.

PGA TOUR

Event: Valero Texas Open, Thursday-Sunday, TPC San Antonio, Oaks Course.

At stake: $9.2 million purse ($1,656,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner.

Defending champion: Corey Conners.

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m.; Saturday, 1-3:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m.); NBC (Saturday, 3:30-6 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30-6 p.m.).

Area players entered: Tyson Alexanders, Bud Cauley, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Harris English, Ben Griffin, Lanto Griffin, Brian Harman, Billy Horschel, Zach Johnson, Ben Kohles, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Novak, Raul Pereda, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Jimmy Stanger, Davis Thompson, Carl Yuan.

Notable: Conners shot 64 in the first round and went on to beat Sam Stevens by one shot, winning in San Antonio for the second time in five years. ... Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa and Hideki Matsuyama lead the field. ... The Masters is next week at the Augusta National Golf Club.

LIV GOLF LEAGUE

Event: LIV Golf Miami, Friday-Sunday, Trump National Doral Resort, Miami.

At stake: $25 million purse ($4 million to the winner).

Defending champion: The Crushers GC (Anirban Lahiri, Bryson DeChambeau, Charles Howell III and Paul Casey) won last year when it was a team event.

TV: CW (Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m.).

Area players entered: Cam Smith.

Notable: Joaquin Niemann enters the week leading LIV’s individual points list over Jon Rahm, while the Crushers are first in the team standings.

LPGA TOUR

Event: T-Mobile Match Play, Wednesday-Sunday, Shadow Creek Golf Club, Las Vegas.

At stake: $2 million purse ($300,000 to the winner).

Defending champion: Pajaree Anannarkarn.

TV: Golf Channel (Wednesday, 6-9 p.m.; Thursday, 7-9 p.m.; Friday, 7-8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m.

Area players entered: Auston Kim.

Notable: Anannarkarn defeated Ayaka Furue 3 and 1 in the championship match.

KORN FERRY TOUR

Event: Club Car Championship, Thursday-Sunday, The Landings, Deer Creek Course, Savannah.

At stake: $1 million purse ($180,000 to the winner).

Defending champion: David Skinns.

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; Saturday, 3:30-6 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30-6 p.m.).

Area players entered: Dawson Armstrong, Chris Baker, Fred Biondi, Chandler Blanchet, Joey Garber, Tano Goya, Evan Harmeling, Patton Kizzire, Philip Knowles, Russell Knox, Doc Redman, Danny Walker, Thomas Walsh.

Notable: Skinns shot 68 in each of the last three rounds and beat Shad Tuten and Tom Whitney by one shot.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Final Masters invitation waiting for the winner of Valero Texas Open