News

2022 Valero Texas Open: Outright Betting Picks

Published

4 years ago

Mar 30, 2022

As players and fans gear up for The Masters, the Tour stays in Texas following the Dell Technologies Match Play for the Valero Texas Open.

TPC San Antonio is a 7,494 yards par 72 and features Bermudagrass greens. The main defense of the course is weather. If the wind picks up it can play pretty tough, otherwise expect the winner to be in the -20 range.

There are 140 golfers in the field this week. The field is what you would expect this week, with many golfers sitting out prior to The Masters. A few stars have made the trip to make sure their game is in top-top shape including Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, and Bryson DeChambeau.

Past Winners at TPC San Antonio

2021: Jordan Spieth (-18)
2019: Corey Conners (-20)
2018: Andrew Landry (-17)
2017: Kevin Chappel (-12)
2016: Charley Hoffman (-12)
2015: Jimmy Walker (-11)

2022 Valero Texas Open Outright Bets

Si Woo Kim (+3500) (Bet365):

Although this isn’t a Pete Dye track, which is Si Woo’s specialty, he has had success at TPC San Antonio in the past. Kim finished 23rd last year and 4th in 2019. As a golfer who resides in the Dallas area, there’s reason to believe he could be very comfortable playing this track.

In his past four stroke play events, the 26-year-old hasn’t finished worse than 26th and boasts two 11th place finishes in that timeframe. We also saw Kim play extremely well last week at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play, where he ranked 5th in the field in Strokes Gained: Total. The results were encouraging as well. Si Woo defeated Christian Bezuidenhout 6&4 and disposed of Daniel Berger 2 up before losing on the 18th hole to Tyrrell Hatton. That may be a blessing in disguise as he didn’t have to play 18-36 more holes over the weekend and comes into the Valero Texas Open both rested and playing well.

On a card with more long shots it makes sense to have a golfer with win equity on the card. And with three PGA Tour victories before his 27th birthday, Si Woo certainly provides that.

Tony Finau (+4500):

The first bet of the week is strictly a value play. The talent level of Finau in relation to where he is on the oddsboard in such a weak field simply doesn’t add up.

Since his win at last year’s Northern Trust, Finau is yet to crack the top ten in any event. While that is what has created his downward slide in price, there are signs pointing to the 32-year-old returning to form. In late February, Finau gained 6.6 strokes on approach at the Genesis which is an encouraging sign. In his next start at THE PLAYERS he wasn’t very good, but because of the unbalanced weather draw it wouldn’t be wise to read too much into that performance. Last week at the WGC Dell Match Play, Finau ranked 13th in Strokes Gained: Total despite not making it out of the group stage. In his final matchup, he disposed of Xander Schauffele quite easily. In the match, he made eight birdies which is another sign that he could be rounding into form.

Finau has a third place finish here back in 2017, so he’s shown that the course suits him if he is playing well. This is a week where I don’t expect to bet anyone near the top of the board, so Finau at a stellar price is a good add to the card.

Kevin Streelman (+6600):

The debate between course history and recent form will always be an interesting one. Luckily for Streelman’s chances at the Valero Texas Open, he has both.

Streelman comes into the week coming off of three top 22 finishes in his past four starts. Most recently, the two-time Tour winner finished 7th at the Valspar Championship. At Copperhead, he gained 7.4 strokes from tee to green and was solid in all statistical categories.

In terms of his play at TPC San Antonio, Streelman has also excelled. He has top ten finishes (8th and 6th) in his past two trips to the course. While not a great putter, his results on Bermuda grass have been much better than other surfaces. He rolled it well in the Florida swing, gaining an average of 2.2 strokes putting on the field per event. If he can catch a hot putter this week in Texas he’s certainly the type to go well at this event.

Patton Kizzire (+7500):

Last season, we saw Patton Kizzire get extremely hot in any event taking place in Texas. He finished 3rd at the Charles Schwab Challenge, 3rd at the Byron Nelson, and 9th at the Valero Texas Open. At this event last year, the 36-year-old gained 8.1 strokes on approach, which was the most he’s ever gained in his career.

His Texas history alone is plenty of reason to bet him at this price, but he also comes into the week playing some pretty solid golf. In his past three events during the Tour’s Florida swing, he finished 32nd at API, 22nd at THE PLAYERS, and 33rd at Valspar consecutively. The field this week at TPC San Antonio will be considerably weaker than those fields which will give Kizzire a shot to notch his first PGA Tour win since the 2018 Sony Open.

Brendan Steele (+10000):

My favorite bet on the board this week is Brendan Steele. In his past two starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship, Steele has gained 10.1 and 9.5 strokes from tee to green respectively. He ranks 2nd in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee in his past 24 rounds, which has been statistically extremely important at this event in the past.

Steele’s combination of both distance and accuracy with the driver make him an ideal course fit at TPC San Antonio. In his past five starts, he’s gained an average of 9.7 strokes on the field in driving distance and 2.9 strokes on the field in driving accuracy.

The main concern with Steele is always the putter. With that being said, when evaluating golfers who putt poorly overall, it is important to target the ones who are capable of having “spike” putting weeks. The 38-year-old is a perfect example of this. Despite losing strokes putting to the field in 25 of his past 40 events, he has 9 tournaments where he gained more than 4.0 strokes with the putter. To win a golf tournament, he doesn’t need to be a great putter; he needs to have one great putting week. The numbers prove that he is more than capable of doing that.

Steele has three PGA Tour victories on his resume. Of the three, two of those wins have come at the same course (Safeway Open 2016 and 2017). This shows me that Steele is a golfer who continuously plays well on the same tracks, and is a true “horses for courses” type of golfer. As for Steele’s third PGA Tour victory? You guessed it, the Valero Texas Open back in 2011. If he can win the Safeway twice, there’s no reason he can’t run it back this week at TPC San Antonio when he is in excellent form.

News

Charles Schwab Challenge Tour Report: MacIntyre, Åberg and Spaun all switch putters, TaylorMade launches new Spider

Published

1 day ago

May 29, 2026

Alistair Cameron

There must be something in the water. Or potentially on the greens. A whole host of big-time players decided that the Charles Schwab Challenge was the perfect place to test out new putters.

With the 2026 U.S. Open just around the corner, defending champion J.J. Spaun made a surprising switch away from his center-shafted Df3 and into L.A.B. Golf’s OZ.1i HS – the heel-shafted mallet putter.

“Just something I kind of wanted to change the way the putter was looking, just a completely different look than the DF3 that I’ve been using for the last year and a half,” Spaun told GolfWRX about the swap. “So it’s just easier to line up for me with less onset looking design, and it’s just something I felt like switching it up and seeing how it goes.”

You can find more about the putter and the reasoning behind Spaun’s change here.

Robert MacIntyre also decided to change the flatstick at Colonial Country Club. He’s using a custom Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R. The Scotty team created a specially-milled face featuring horizontal grooves and shortened the plumber’s neck to increase toe hang.

Another custom feature of the build is the welded wings added to the rear of the putter, similar to those found on the Phantom 11 head.

It’s potentially part of a major overhaul to his bag. The Scot has recently switched from the Titleist Pro V1 to the Pro V1x golf ball, added the new GTS2 driver, and is currently testing a GTS 3-wood that could replace his ancient TaylorMade AeroBurner 3-wood.

Ludvig Åberg joined the trio of superstars making alterations on the greens. He’s added a Scotty Cameron Phantom 3.2.

It’s not Åberg’s first putter switch of the season. He had been using different versions of his usual Odyssey Versa #1 head to try to get better speed control on the greens.

? Ludvig Åberg is using a new putter! He’s playing a @ScottyCameron Phantom 3 head. First major putter switch, although he has been changing loft and heads in the Odyssey #1 style this season.
Here’s a Phantom 3 built for him earlier in the season https://t.co/oGrNk6p0hz pic.twitter.com/edRbpk22m4

— Alistair Cameron (@ACameronWRX) May 28, 2026

Currently, a Tour-only offering, the Phantom 3 head is a half-moon mallet shape. Like the previous version that GolfWRX captured at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which Åberg never put in play, the current version appears to feature the Studio Carbon Steel face insert and chain-link face milling. Instead of the all-black version one, Åberg’s current flatstick is in the metal finish.

Rico Hoey’s make-shift Jailbird

Some of the best builds on Tour have a certain Frankenstein theme to them.

Odyssey decided to do this when breeding a turtle and a bird together. The result, Rico Hoey’s latest broomstick.

The custom Jailbird S2S Tri-Hot head includes an aluminium-milled insert from the unreleased TRTL head, which the team machined down to fit the face of the Jailbird after removing the usual Ai-Dual insert.

The team also filled the wings of the putter with epoxy to redistribute mass away from the face, with the metal insert weighing more than the original.

Hoey was also spotted with a custom Damascus Milled Jailbird Mini broomstick. Check out the full gallery here.

Brant Snedeker’s full WITB

Arguably, the PGA Tour’s feel-good story of the year so far was 45-year-old Brandt Snedeker returning to the winner’s circle for the first time in nearly 8 years.

His victory didn’t come without some equipment updates, either. The Presidents Cup Captain added the 2016 M2 driver equipped with a Fujikura Speeder Evolution 661. It’s a shaft that’s even older than the driver.

The historic driver setup might have been added because Snedeker was missing some antique vibes. He recently switched out his 2-decade-old Odyssey Rossie White Hot XG for a TaylorMade Spider Tour X.

He first put the Spider in play at the Cognizant Classic. Still, at the Valspar Championship, he tested TaylorMade’s True Path Alignment versus without, and preferred the added aim benefits he was getting. In previous testing, the biggest thing Snedeker noticed was the launch and how quickly the ball got to true roll from the Spider and its Pure Roll insert compared to anything else he had tried.

Check out Snedeker’s full what’s in the bag during this week’s episode of “Inside the Ropes” from Colonial.

Everything’s bigger in Texas

TaylorMade Golf chose the second stop of a Texas two-step in Dallas as the spot to launch the tour’s latest Spider putter.

On-site Monday at Colonial Country Club, GolfWRX’s Tour Photographer Greg Moore captured the new Spider ZT Max putter ahead of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

The Max version of TaylorMade’s zero-torque putter style has a larger footprint than the original ZT, which will likely lead to a higher MOI thanks to wider perimeter weighting.

The original ZT is made of high-density 303 stainless steel at the front, and then a lower-density 6061 aerospace aluminum on the back to create a high-MOI foundation, with a center shaft featuring slight forward shaft lean and 25mm onset behind the leading edge.

The Spider ZT Max also appears to use the ZT cambered sole, which is also seen on the recently Tour-launched Spider Tour, Tour X, F and V models, which were first spotted at the RBC Heritage.

Brian Harman gamed the original Spider ZT for his victory last year at the 2025 Valero Texas Open, and the putter also saw victory on the DP World Tour in the hands of Michael Kim for his FedEx Open de France win.

Check out the full gallery here.

Odds and Ends

Project X officially Tour launched the Titan Yellow shaft, just a few days after Wyndham Clark played it for the first time and won The CJ Cup Byron Nelson. The shaft features a smoother feel in the handle compared to past Project X wood shafts, along with a firm midsection and firm tip. The Synex Technology allows a player to feel more load in transition without losing the feel of the clubhead. Titleist launched the GTS300 back at Quail Hollow, and just a few weeks later, it’s in the bag of Justin Thomas. Could this be a test run for Shinnecock?

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the ShopRite LPGA

Published

2 days ago

May 28, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX Tour Photographer Greg Moore was on site in Galloway, New Jersey, ahead of the ShopRite LPGA powered by Wakefern to snap some WITB photos and more.

Check out links to all the photos below!

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

Odyssey putters – 2026 ShopRite(LPGA)

News

Club Junkie WITB, week 18: Driver still needs a grip!

Published

3 days ago

May 27, 2026

Brian Knudson

Back again for week 18 with another new bag for this week’s league night! Last week I played well but lost so hoping to get back on the winning side of things. I am pretty excited to get this driver out on the course as I think it is a legit sleeper in the category. It is also time to break out some newly built irons from JP Golf that look awesome and hopefully play just as good! Here is what is in the bag this week.

Driver: PXG Lighting Tour-Mid (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6s

4-wood: Wilson Dynapwr Carbon (16.5 degrees @ 16)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s

Hybrid: Callaway Apex Ti Super Hybrid (21 degrees @ 20)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Red 9x

Utility: Mizuno JPX One (22 degrees @ 23)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black 85s

Irons: JP Prime (5-PW)
Shafts: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F5

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (56-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-8 ADAPT)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Putter: Mizuno M.Craft City Osaka
Shaft: TPT Pulse 50

Ball: PXG Xtreme Tour

Bag: Ghost Anyday Black Ops Stand Bag