Valero Texas Open 2024: Course and current form stats

• Fairways tree-lined & tight; bunkers plentiful & deep

• Consistent Cole 50/151.00 a decent e/w contender

• Horschel 28/129.00 to remain hot in Texas

Tournament and Course Notes

• The Texas Open has always been staged in San Antonio, and dates back to 1922. Eight local venues have hosted this event during its long history, with TPC San Antonio's Oaks Course making its debut 14 years ago;

• This week's instalment will be the 14th at the Oaks Course, with the tournament cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. However, in July of that year, the Oaks Course did host a tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour;

• The Oaks Course was designed by Greg Norman in collaboration with Sergio Garcia and opened three months before it made its PGA Tour debut. The venue's downhill holes are played into the prevailing wind, while uphill holes travel in the opposite direction;

• TPC San Antonio is laid out just over 1,000 feet above sea level, with water coming into play on only two holes - which is rare for such a modern course;

• The majority of fairways are tree-lined and tight, while greens are undulating. Bunkers are large, plentiful and deep on what is a traditional parkland course;

• The Oaks Course is approximately 14 miles north of San Antonio city centre, around 150 miles from the Mexican border and 190 miles from the nearest coast.

Latest betting for this week's Valero Texas Open

Good Current Form

Super Swede Ludvig Aberg 14/115.00 will hope to continue his meteoric rise up the World Ranking.

The No 9 has rarely finished outside the top-25 since the start of August and he returns to Texas where he spent a number of years as a college student.

His fellow countryman Alexander Noren 33/134.00 is on a decent run of form right now, travelling in from Houston where he tied-11th on Sunday.

Hideki Matsuyama 18/119.00 is preparing nicely for the first major of 2024, while two Americans who look ready to burn brightly this week are Eric Cole 50/151.00 and Harris English 33/134.00, most likely as each-way candidates.

Cole has been one of the most improved pros of the past 12 months, thanks to a string of T10s and T25s.

Meanwhile, English has flown a little under the radar in recent months but in eight starts during 2024, there has been six T25s, including a brace of top-10s.

Latest betting for next week's Masters Tournament

Good Course Form

Defending champion Corey Conners 20/121.00, who is a two-time winner at TPC San Antonio, has had a consistent start to 2024 without contending for titles down the final nine holes.

There have been three T25s this year for the Canadian who has not missed a cut for nearly 10 months.

Texas-born Jordan Spieth 20/121.00, the 2021 champion, has also finished second here, while three players who might be worth considering are Byeong Hun An 28/129.00, Charley Hoffman 100/1101.00 and Billy Horschel 28/129.00.

Two of An's last three visits have yielded T10s, while Hoffman enjoys an excellent Oaks Course history of five podium finishes that include a victory.

The 47-year-old has a season's best finish of runner-up at TPC Scottsdale.

And Horschel is certainly a potential contender this week: Three-times a top-four finisher in San Antonio, the American's last four PGA Tour starts include a trio of T12s.

This includes tied-seventh on Sunday in Houston where he closed with a 64 to finish two strokes adrift of winner Stephan Jaeger.

Betfair Sportsbook

Oaks Course Champions

The majority of champions have tended to start extremely well.

Ten of the last 12 winners of the tournament were no worse than three strokes off the pace after 18 holes.

And none of these dozen winners were more than four shots adrift after round one.

Meanwhile, 10 of the 12 champions were also no lower than tied-third after 36 holes.

And only one of these dozen players was worse than fifth at the half-way stage.

Stroke Averages

Lowest 10/12 At The Oaks (2017-23)
Average .... (Rounds)
69.50: Corey Conners (20)
69.50: Jordan Spieth (12)
70.00: Lucas Glover (16)
70.00: Brandt Snedeker (12)
70.19: Aaron Baddeley (16)
70.29: Matt Kuchar (24)
70.45: Charley Hoffman (22)
70.50: Rickie Fowler (14)
70.60: Kevin Streelman (20)
70.67: Ryan Moore (18)
Min. No. of Rounds = 10
Only those entered this week are included in table

MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves