It’s go time for the PGA Tour stalwarts who are searching for some form before they travel to Augusta National — and it’s the last chance for everyone else to snag a ticket.
The Valero Texas Open once again occupies the week before the Masters on the tour schedule, and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood will headline the field that tees off at TPC San Antonio on Thursday.
“It’s funny, I played by chance in 2024. I was struggling in Florida, took the next week off and threw this one into the schedule,” Fleetwood said. “I had a great week. I then had a great Masters right after it. It’s been part of our year ever since.”
Collin Morikawa was set to play this week as well but withdrew on Tuesday. His agent said in a statement that Morikawa continues to make progress in his rehab from a back issue, but the Texas Open turned out to be too soon for a competitive return.
Fans will still see the likes of Russell Henley, Swedish youngster Ludvig Aberg and major winners J.J. Spaun and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan tune up for the Masters.
But the name that emerges victorious at the end of the week may be none of these. If the winner has not already been invited to the Masters, he will get the last ticket to Augusta, as Spaun did when he won the event in 2022 and Akshay Bhatia replicated in 2024. The Masters field features 93 golfers as of Wednesday.
When Brian Harman won last year’s edition of the Texas Open, he posted a modest score of 9-under-par 279, the highest winning score at the event since 2014.
Might this be the week for Harman to fix the trajectory of his season? Before tying for 11th at The Players Championship, he had two missed cuts and three finishes of 50th or worse among his first six starts.
“Starting the year, I have been happy with my game, just really upset with the results,” Harman said. “I felt like I was getting out there and kind of shooting the highest score that I could every day.”
Harman said the mental side of the game has been his emphasis amid his slump.
“That’s been the big focus lately because the ball-striking’s been there, the short game’s been there, and now I feel like I’m just trying to get a better picture of what I’m trying to do and try not to get so far ahead of myself,” he said. “When you get into a little bit of a funk or a slump, it’s really easy to get out in front of yourself and think about the future a lot. I’m a victim of that more often than not. Just trying to stay real present and not dwell on stuff too bad and just kind of try to stay where my feet are.”
The last player to go back-to-back at the Texas Open was Zach Johnson in 2008-09.
The course is a challenging par-72, 7,438-yard track that features two par-5 holes exceeding 600 yards, two par-3s that measure 207 and 241 yards and another par-3, the 16th, with a doughnut-shaped green and a bunker in the middle.
“It’s a demanding golf course,” Fleetwood said. “Can’t be overpowered. You’ve got to really control your ball. I think you have to be patient. I think you have to use an all-around game. It’s windy. I think there’s just a lot of elements that go into making this a really, really good challenge.”
