Tour News
DraftKings Fantasy Preview: Valero Texas Open
The field isn’t top notch at the Valero Texas Open, but names like Jordan Spieth, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson will be gracing the field.
DraftKings is once again offering a buy-low, earn-high format this week. At just $3, or FREE with first deposit, you can enter a contest with a $45,000 prize pool that gives away $3,000 to first place and guarantees money to the top 3,525 scores.
You can join the DraftKings competition here.
If you’re unfamiliar with the competition rules, you can look back at my Arnold Palmer preview for that information.
With a less-heralded event on the docket, this might be one of your best chances to cash in on your golf expertise at DraftKings.
My aid in that endeavor is below.
The Course
At the Valero Texas Open, the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course layout has been the host since 2010, which only gives us five years of data.
That isn’t a large sample, but two main characteristics for a successful showing at the course have been assumed: accurate driving and a great short game.
But we don’t deal in assumptions here, and some have questioned the accuracy over length advantage in driving at TPC San Antonio anyway.
To find the answer within the 5-year sample, I recovered every player who finished in the top-10 at the Valero since the course change in 2010. This set of 46 different golfers would give us an idea what kind of player contends (and potentially wins) on Sunday at the Oaks Course.
There is some judgement involved, but on the distance vs. accuracy question, I found 19 from this group to be in the top third on the PGA Tour in driving distance, with 14 clocking in on the same regard for accuracy. Power has been proven to be more potent than accuracy in driving on the PGA Tour in general, so this result speaks to a pretty even split, with power advantaged a little.
Overall, general driving ability showed to be highly important in contending at the Oaks layout, as I considered 19 from this set to be top third on the Tour in overall driving (distance + accuracy + precision). The short game matched driving’s 19 players placed in the top third.
Putting actually had 17 top-third golfers, which marks it as a far more vital area than has been previously noted at TPC San Antonio.
Approach play only registered 10 top-third golfers, which marks it as the least effective facet of the game for contending at TPC San Antonio.
As for minutiae, it’s better for a player’s driving flaw to be missing a lot of fairways rather than missing a few of them by a lot. The rough at TPC San Antonio is nothing too scary, but the big misses bring the haunting trees and natural vegetation into play.
Six-man Roster
- Jim Furyk: $11,000
- Matt Kuchar: $10,300
- Jason Dufner: $8,400
- Scott Piercy: $6,500
- Pat Perez: $6,500
- Seung-Yul Noh: $6,300
Two types emerge at TPC San Antonio. There’s the player with excellent driving and short game. And there’s the all-around player, with the layout advantaging driving, short game and putting heavily.
Furyk is a mix of the two, as the 44-year-old is one of the best drivers and short game players on the planet, and is generally above average in every facet. His last two finishes at the Valero are 6th and 3rd, and he’s been on form the past month, if under the radar.
Kuchar and Perez are the all-around player mold. Kuchar has stalled with zero top-20s in his last three starts, but he rarely goes long without contending, and his T4 at the Valero in 2014 is an example of how he thrives at this time of year.
As for Perez, he’s not great at anything, but he’s above average in every facet, and his three consecutive top-25s at the Oak Course speak to his strong track record here.
Dufner has put together a thoroughly mediocre campaign in 2015 for a player of his caliber, with just one top-10 and three top-25s in seven starts. And he has no previous experience here. But this course is near perfect for him.
The 38-year-old is short off the tee, but incredibly accurate and unbelievably precise (top-15 in Distance from Edge of Fairway the last 5 years). And he’s secretly an elite short game player. This is an excellent track to get him back on point.
Piercy and Noh are my wildcards. The former is a long-hitter who is prone to big misses, and his best work is on courses where he can go low, which definitely doesn’t describe the Oaks Course. But his performance on and around the greens is nearly unmatched when he’s hot, and I’m taking a stab at that happening this week.
The latter is a bomber whose most positive feature at this point is his approach game. But his next big performance could come at any moment.
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Sleeper Team
- Seung-yul Noh: $6,300
- Martin Flores: $6,300
- Boo Weekley: $6,100
- Ken Duke: $5,800
- Chris Stroud: $5,800
- Derek Ernst: $5,100
A really poor bottom to this field, so my sleepers are the set just above the lowest group.
Flores has done remarkably well in this event with three consecutive top-25s, and possesses a great short game. Weekley’s driving is consistently top notch and, even with three missed cuts in his last four starts, a newly masterful short game gives the 41-year-old too tantalizing a combo for this course to overlook him.
Stroud is in the midst of a miserable season where he has made less than half his cuts and seen his putting plummet. I expect his normally excellent flatstick to return this week and combine with his near-elite short game and above-average driving.
I picked Duke on a whim, and Ernst is a product of course and recent play. He showed signs of life with a T17 at Valspar following seven missed cuts in eight events, and while no course will ever truly fit Ernst’s “great driving, but terrible at everything else” game, TPC San Antonio is the closest he’ll get with driving and short game (his second best feature) at a premium.
Bonus
Alternate Six-Man Roster
- Jordan Spieth: $14,000
- Harris English: $9,200
- Charles Howell III: $8,000
- Kevin Chappell: $6,600
- Boo Weekley: $6,100
- Derek Ernst: $5,100
I trust Spieth this week with his all-around game (admittedly best around and on the greens, though), but he’s just too expensive to be my true No. 1.
English has the dangerous trio of recent form and course fit, especially with his improved short game. Chappell may not have the first thing — four missed cuts in last five starts — but has the latter two at high levels.
Howell’s game is trending in the right direction toward Augusta and he is still hungry for that Masters invite.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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