Breven Honda
The PGA Tour continues its Texas Swing with the 101st Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio with first-round action getting underway on Thursday.
Last week, both the World Golf Technologies-Dell Technologies Match Play Event and the Corales Puntacana Championship took place.
At the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event, the only match play event on the PGA Tour schedule, No. 13 seed Sam Burns defeated No. 15 Cameron Young in the championship matchup, 6 & 5. In the third-place match, two of the game’s best players, No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 3 Rory McIlroy faced off as McIlroy edged out the Texas Longhorn alumnus 2 & 1.
It was a week to remember at Austin Country Club as it could be the final match play event on the PGA Tour due to the changes to next year’s schedule.
Related: PGA Tour announces schedule changes for the 2024 season
At the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic, Englishman Matt Wallace won the event with a score of 19-under par. Wallace won his first PGA Tour event following four previous wins on the DP World Tour.
This week at TPC San Antonio, players are going to be challenged from the tee to the green as windy conditions are expected to be present.
Some of the top players in the game are skipping this week to prepare for the Masters while others are playing this week to still qualify for the first major of the season at Augusta National.
The player who becomes victorious will receive an exemption into next week’s Masters.
What channel is the Valero Texas Open on?
The Valero Texas Open will be televised between NBC and the Golf Channel.
Television schedule for the Valero Texas Open
| Round | Date | Time (ET) | TV |
| 1 | Thursday Mar. 30 | 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| 2 | Friday Mar. 31 | 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| 3 | Saturday Apr. 1 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Golf Channel NBC |
| 4 | Sunday Apr. 2 | 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Golf Channel NBC |
Other coverage for the Valero Texas Open
In addition to NBC and the Golf Channel, the Valero Texas Open will also be broadcasted on ESPN+ and Peacock. PGA Tour Live for the marquee and featured groups can be exclusively found on ESPN+, in addition to the featured holes will be at the four par-3s this week at the 3rd, 7th, 13th and 16th holes.
The Valero Texas Open will also be on the airwaves of Sirius XM.
Thursday, March 30 (Round 1)
ESPN+: 8:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET
Friday, March 31 (Round 2)
ESPN+: 8:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, April 1 (Round 3)
ESPN+: 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Sunday, April 2 (Round 4)
ESPN+: 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
How much are tickets for the Valero Texas Open?
Tickets to walk the grounds for the Valero Texas Open begin at $60 while hospitality venues with upgraded tournament experience increase in price, including at the Lexus Cabana Club, the Centennial Club or the Presidential Pass.
In addition, children 15 and under will receive free admission with a ticketed adult all week but does not include hospitality venues. Also, military and first responders receive special benefits this week at the Valero Texas Open.
Payout for the 2023 Valero Texas Open
The total purse for the event is set at $8.9 million and the winner will receive $1.5 million.
Who are some of the top golfers in the Valero Texas Open?
Although some are taking the extra week to prepare for the Masters next week, there are still headliners in this week’s Valero Texas Open.
There are handful of former Texas Longhorn alumni competing this week, including Jordan Spieth, Beau Hossler, Pierceson Coody and among others.
Related: Ranking the 5 best Masters performances of all time, from Jordan Spieth to Tiger Woods
Rickie Fowler, who enters the week at No. 59 in the Official World Golf Ranking, needs a victory to avoid missing three consecutive Masters.
J.J. Spaun, who made it to the knockout rounds in last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event, won this event last year for his first career PGA Tour victory. Spaun, who scored 13-under par a year ago at TPC San Antonio, is looking to become the first player to defend his Valero Texas Open victory since Zach Johnson went back-to-back in 2008 and 2009.
5 players who can hoist the Valero Texas Open trophy on Sunday
Taylor Montgomery
This season, Taylor Montgomery continues to show why he is the favorite for PGA Tour Rookie of the year one week before the first major tournament. In 15 events this year, the 28-year-old has four top-10s and inside the top 20 in strokes gained total and strokes gained putting.
Taylor Montgomery enters this week at No. 58 in the OWGR and needs a victory to solidify his spot at next week’s Masters.
Thomas Detry
The player going head-to-head against Montgomery in the race for the PGA Tour’s best rookie is Thomas Detry, who is coming off of a top-10 finish at the Corales Puntacana Championship last week, highlighted a third round 65.
So far this season Detry excelled in the par 4s. He is sixth in par 4 average, averaging 3.93 strokes on a par-4 and eighth in par 4s birdie or better at a clip of 21.8% to minimize strokes.
Rickie Fowler
One of the biggest players with all of the pressure this week is Rickie Fowler, who is trying to play well and earn himself a trip to Augusta. In 11 events this season, Fowler has only missed one cut as he enters the week with a top 15 finish at The Players Championship and a good, hard showing last week.
During group action of the WGC-Dell Technologies match play event, Fowler was going up against one of the most toughest groups. Fowler finished second in the group, losing to Billy Horschel. Although Horschel got the last laugh, Fowler was able to defeat the No. 2 see Jon Rahm 2 & 1 and Keith Mitchell 1 up. His lone loss before losing was o Billy Horschel.
Cam Davis
Despite missing five consecutive cuts at one point earlier this year, Cam Davis turned things around earlier in the month with a top 10 finish at The PLAYERS Championship and went 2-1 in group play of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event.
One of the keys that favor Davis this week is he is 17th on the PGA Tour this season in par 5 scoring and 20th in strokes gained off the tee, which is going to be beneficial for everyone in the field this week with the expected windy conditions throughout the week.
Matt Kuchar
Another season veteran comes to the Valero Texas Open this week in Matt Kuchar, who, as the No. 59 seed, was able to advance to the knockout rounds with group stage victories over Si Woo Kim 7 & 6 and Viktor Hovland 3 &1, while tying with Chris Kirk.
At TPC San Antonio, Kuchar has made the cut at the Valero Texas Open in each of his previous 10 starts, including being the runner-up last year and fourth in 2014. With a win this week, Kuchar will be playing in his 15th Masters and first since the 2020 Masters when it was pushed back seven months into the fall.
Valero Texas Open pairings
All times ET; MG: Marquee Group, FG: Featured Group
Rd. 1: 1 tee Round 2: 10 tee
7:30 a.m. 12:25 p.m. – Ryan Palmer, Scott Piercy, Henrik Norlander
7:41 a.m. 12:36 p.m. – Nick Watney, Zac Blair, Joseph Bramlett
7:52 a.m. 12:47 p.m. – Patton Kizzire, Kevin Chappell, Sam Ryder
8:03 a.m. (FG) 12:58 p.m. – Stewart Cink, J.B. Holmes, Davis Love III
8:14 a.m. 1:09 p.m. – Garrick Higgo, Brendon Todd, Lanto Griffin
8:25 a.m. 1:20 p.m. – Luke List, Brian Gay, Tyler Duncan
8:36 a.m. 1:31 p.m. – Chez Reavie, Andrew Landry, Davis Riley
8:47 a.m. 1:42 p.m. – Kevin Tway, Byeong Hun An, Matthias Schwab
8:58 am 1:53 p.m. – Nate Lashley, Adam Long, Lee Hodges
9:09 am. 2:04 p.m. – MJ Daffue, Augusto Nunez, Peter Kuest
9:20 a.m. 2:15 p.m. – Aaron Rai, Brandon Matthews, Austen Truslow
9:31 a.m. 2:26 p.m. – Harry Higgs, Trevor Cone, Roberto Diaz
Rd. 1: 10 tee Round 2: 1 tee
7:30 a.m. 12:25 p.m. – Dylan Frittelli, James Hahn, Alex Smalley
7:41 a.m. 12:36 p.m. – Ricky Barnes, Beau Hossler, Mark Hubbard
7:52 a.m. 12:47 p.m. – Ben Martin, Thomas Detry, S.H. Kim
8:03 a.m. (MG) 12:58 p.m. (FG) – Matt Wallace, Nico Echavarria, Matt Kuchar
8:14 a.m. 1:09 p.m. – Sepp Straka, Nick Taylor, Andrew Putnam
8:25 a.m. (FG) 1:20 p.m. (FG) – Lucas Glover, Francesco Molinari, Padraig Harrington
8:36 a.m. 1:31 p.m. – Brice Garnett, Brian Stuard, Kramer Hickok
8:47 a.m. 1:42 p.m. – Jimmy Walker, Kevin Streelman, Adam Schenk
8:58 a.m. 1:53 p.m. – Kyle Stanley, Kelly Kraft, Doc Redman
9:09 a.m. 2:04 p.m. – Michael Gligic, Carl Yuan, Nicolai Hojgaard
9:20 a.m. 2:15 p.m. – Nick Hardy, Sam Stevens, Pierceson Coody
9:31 a.m. 2:26 p.m. – Austin Eckroat, Brent Grant, David Carey
Rd. 1: 1 tee Round 2: 10 tee
12:25 p.m. 7:30 a.m. – Taylor Pendrith, Davis Thompson, Ryan Fox
12:36 p.m. 7:41 a.m. – Ryan Armour, David Lingmerth, Ben Griffin
12:47 p.m. 7:52 a.m. – Troy Merritt, Matthew NeSmith, Robby Shelton
12:58 p.m. (FG) 8:03 a.m. (MG) – J.J. Spaun, Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler
1:09 p.m. (FG) 8:14 a.m. (FG) – Chris Kirk, Cam Davis, Tyrrell Hatton
1:20 p.m. 8:25 a.m. (FG) – Si Woo Kim, Corey Conners, Charley Hoffman
1:31 p.m. 8:36 a.m. – Taylor Montgomery, Eric Cole, Austin Smotherman
1:42 p.m. 8:47 a.m. – Michael Kim, Satoshi Kodaira, Greyson Sigg
1:53 p.m. 8:58 a.m. – Ryan Moore, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Max McGreevy
2:04 p.m. 9:09 a.m. – Kevin Roy, Akshay Bhatia, Ryan Gerard
2:15 p.m. 9:20 a.m. – Carson Young, Vincent Normann, Jesse Mueller
2:26 p.m. 9:31 a.m. – Scott Harrington, Harry Hall, Cole Hammer
Rd. 1: 10 tee Round 2: 1 tee
12:25 p.m. 7:30 a.m. – Patrick Rodgers, Brandon Wu, Will Gordon
12:36 p.m. 7:41 a.m. – Jason Dufner, Russell Knox, Ben Taylor
12:47 p.m. 7:52 a.m. – Luke Donald, Alex Noren, Callum Tarren
12:58 p.m. 8:03 a.m. – Cameron Champ, Martin Laird, Richy Werenski
1:09 p.m. 8:14 a.m. – Trey Mullinax, Chad Ramey, Michael Thompson
1:20 p.m. 8:25 a.m. – Erik Van Rooyen, Jim Herman, Emiliano Grillo
1:31 p.m. 8:36 a.m. – Chesson Hadley, Hayden Buckley, Justin Lower
1:42 p.m. 8:47 a.m. – Austin Cook, Peter Malnati, Doug Ghim
1:53 p.m. 8:58 a.m. – Paul Haley II, Zechang Dou, Kazuki Higa
2:04 p.m. 9:09 a.m. – Andrew Novak, Trevor Werbylo, JJ Wood
2:15 p.m. 9:20 a.m. – Matti Schmid, Tony Goya, Peter Lansburgh
2:26 p.m. 9:31 a.m. – Harrison Endycott, Kyle Westmoreland, Chandler Phillips
