Valero Texas Open One and Done Picks
The Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio is the final stop on the PGA Tour before the first major championship of the year. Many of the top players will have an eye on getting their game in a good spot for The Masters, while the majority of the field will be trying to book a trip to Augusta at the 11th hour with a win.
Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig headline the field in San Antonio. They are two of the eight players teeing it up in Texas who rank top-20 in the OWGR. Collin Morikawa was slated to return from a back injury, but he withdrew on Tuesday morning and now has even more questions going into The Masters. Jordan Spieth will be the crowd favorite, but he also has the fourth best odds to win in San Antonio (+1850). Spieth was victorious in this event back in 2021.
This is a big part of the schedule for OAD players. While this is the third straight non-Signature Event, the next five tournaments on the calendar for OAD will all be either majors or Signature Events. This is where most of the big swings will take place. If you've had a poor start to 2026 there is plenty of opportunities to make up ground. Those near the top of their leagues can't get too comfortable either.
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Course Tidbits
- Course: TPC San Antonio Oaks Course (7,438 yards, par 72)
- Location: San Antonio, Texas
- Purse: $9.8 million -- $1.764 million to winner
- Defending Champion: Brian Harman (-9)
- 2025 Scoring Average: 72.48
- Average Winning Score Last 5 Years: -15
TPC San Antonio is an opportunity for the best ball strikers to separate. The fairways are narrow, and while the rough isn't overly penal, the fairway bunkers are deep and a lot of holes have dense trees on both sides which will make escaping with par close to impossible. The GIR percentage for the field here is also quite low compared to PGA Tour average. A lot of that has to do with the traditional gusty Texas winds and the fact that most of these greens fall off on all sides.
There's also chances for some of your top short game players to make moves because of the high number of scrambling opportunities. Denny McCarthy and Akshay Bhatia, who competed in a playoff back in 2024, finished first and second for the week in SG: Around-the-Green, while Ryan Gerard finished second a year ago to Brian Harman and was second for the week in SG: Around.
This is one of the toughest set of par-5s on the PGA Tour. Three of them will be three-shot holes for the majority of the field, which places an added emphasis on wedge play. Despite the distance on the long holes, there are plenty of shorter par-4s where wedge will be in hand. Some of the top wedge and short iron players have racked up a lot of great results over the years at TPC San Antonio.
The weather will be a factor this week. There's a chance for thunderstorms in all four tournament rounds, with the most likely chance coming during Saturday's third round. The rain should soften the course, but wind gusts are projected to reach at least 25 mph each round. Players will have their work cut out for them even if the greens are a bit more receptive. Hopefully we can crown a champion by Sunday night and delays don't take this into Masters week.
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RotoWire One and Done Tools
Valero Texas Open: One and Done Picks
Yellamaraju's value is never going to be higher than it is right now. He is coming off a T5 at THE PLAYERS Championship and a T6 at the Houston Open last week. While this will be Yellamaraju's first trip to TPC San Antonio, on paper he should be an excellent fit for the course. The KFT graduate is second in total driving and ranks top 30 on Tour in SG: Approach, GIR percentage and proximity. He also has a lot of confidence with the putter ranking top 20 in SG: Putting and putts per GIR. With a bunch of big money events upcoming, a guy like Yellamaraju makes a lot of sense this week. --Ryan Andrade
Noren is accurate off the tee, great with his irons and elite with his wedges, profiling as an awesome course fit for TPC San Antonio where he's placed top-15 in each of his two prior appearances here. The 43-year-old leads the PGA Tour in rough proximity while also ranking ninth in SG: Around-the-Green this season, but he's not someone you're looking to save for a Signature Event/major championship. --Bryce Danielson
Noren has posted T14 and T15 finishes at TPC San Antonio and arrives with four straight results of 32nd or better, capped by a T12 at the Genesis Invitational. He ranks third among this field in SG: Around the Green at Oaks Course and holds strong at fifth in SG:ARG in 2026. Noren's game has quietly started to round into form, giving him an edge against one of the tougher iron tests on Tour, especially if you're looking to fade the chalk during a week when the top players are tuning up for the Masters. --Lauren Jump
We've seen Hisatsune near the top of leaderboards often already this season with three top-10s, and he also was third in SG: Tee-to-Green at TPC Sawgrass but had a poor putting week and ultimately finished T13. He got a much-needed break last week after playing nine of the first 10 events, just in time for a place that he finished T5 at last year. If you still have him available, I think this is a great time to use him after he was the second most popular One and Done pick at the Valspar. Two of his three best results last year came in Texas. --Ryan Pohle
I wanted to use Michael Thorbjornsen here because I don't think he'll be a popular play, but I'm fine with McNealy. With the top players likely out of the mix because they're too big to use in this spot and several others pulling out, there aren't that many great option this week. McNealy doesn't look like the best option on paper, but I'm going with my gut this week, something I haven't done much lately, so maybe it's the catalyst I need. McNealy doesn't have a lot of experience here, just three starts, but he's never missed a cut at this event and he finished T3 here this past year. --Greg Vara
Henley has been his ever-steady self over the first three months of the season. He's finished top-20 in six of his seven starts, with a pair of top-10s. The one thing he hasn't done is contend for a title, as T6 at Bay Hill is his best showing. That should change this week. Two years ago here, Henley tied for fourth. He's ranked 31st in SG: Approach, 32nd in Tee-to-Green and 14th in Putting. Not only is that great for this week, but next week, too. --Len Hochberg
I wouldn't say I love this option, but I want to use Spieth in Texas if I do at all, and I'm ready to do so. He played this event five times over the last six years and posted a win in 2021, a T10 in 2024 and a T12 last year, so that at least provides confidence he can deliver if he can stay on the straight and narrow. --Kevin O'Brien
Valero Texas Open: One and Done Fades
I was a little surprised to see MacIntyre as high up on the odds chart as he was this week, granted he is coming off a fourth place finish at THE PLAYERS. That said, he is gaining most of his strokes with the putter which I don't think will necessarily be the most critical this week. I'm much more concerned about MacIntyre's iron play which ranks 139th in SG: Approach and 149th in proximity so far this season. He's also only played this event once before and that was a T35 in 2022. --Ryan Andrade
Although he's coming off a fourth-place finish at THE PLAYERS Championship, MacIntyre still ranks just 139th on Tour in SG: Approach this season, and he's particularly struggled to produce scoring opportunities from the 50-150 and 200-plus yard ranges, which are key at TPC San Antonio. It's certainly not an easy fade because he's so stout with his driver and putter, but I think he's better suited for other venues, and he's good enough from a macro perspective to hold for a low-owned leverage spot in a larger-purse event down the road, if need be. --Bryce Danielson
Zalatoris is making his first start at TPC San Antonio and arrives off a missed cut at the Farmers, a withdrawal before the Cognizant with an ankle injury and another missed cut at the Houston Open last week. That's too much to overlook at an event that rewards accuracy off the tee and dependable short game, two areas where Zalatoris ranks in the bottom half of this field. With no course history, shaky form and lingering health questions, this is not the week to force it. --Lauren Jump
McNealy will likely be one of the most popular selections after finishing T3 here last year, but I'd like to wait until we see some better form as his best result through seven starts is 10th at Torrey Pines. He's struggled with his accuracy off the tee this year and has lost strokes on approach in three consecutive events. We saw McNealy top-5 a couple of signature events last year, so I'm going to target him at Harbour Town or Muirfield Village if the iron play heats up leading into those events. --Ryan Pohle
I generally don't like to go below the top 10 on the betting board when finding a player to avoid, and often it's not that hard. However, this week it was more difficult. I landed on Kim, not because I think he will play poorly, but because he's definitely lost some momentum. Kim finished inside the top-6 in three straight events in late-January and early-February, but he hasn't quite found that form since then. He did have a top-15 at the API, but his most recent start at THE PLAYERS, resulted in a T50. Again, I don't see Kim missing the cut this week, but I also don't see a top-5 finish. --Greg Vara
Kim is still playing very well, but he's certainly cooled off from the start of the season. After opening a runner-up, a third, a sixth and an 11th, he has just one top-30 in his past four starts. Kim missed the cut here last year and tied for 39th in his previous visit. --Len Hochberg
Spaun has actually fared well at this stop, making the cut in his last three tries and taking home the trophy in 2022. He has not fared well this season, though, and over his last four tournaments he shot lower than 71 only once over 10 rounds. --Kevin O'Brien
Don't get burned by late withdrawals. Visit RotoWire's PGA tournament field page for a live-updated summary of the field for the current week and list of players who have dropped out.
