Draftkings Picks: 2019 Valero Texas Open at The Oaks Course

The 2019 Valero Texas Open arrives on the PGA Tour schedule this week. This is the last tournament on the schedule prior to the Masters. Due to this fact, many of the elite players are choosing to skip this event to prepare for next week’s first major. However, this is a relatively decent field for Draftkings contests.

Before we get to the Draftkings picks, let’s look a little at the course. The 2019 Valero Texas Open has been held at the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio since 2010. The Oaks Course is a par 72 that measures 7,435 yards. This course is one of the longest tracks on the PGA Tour each year. Most of the length from this course is due to the long par five holes.

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This event’s date was changed on the schedule this year to the week before the Masters. Due this date change, the event organizers widened the fairways to better prepare players for the Tour’s first major next week in Augusta, Georgia. In previous years, this event had much tighter fairways.

Due to the length of the course and the importance of scoring on the par five holes this week, my focus regarding player statistics for Draftkings contests will be on driving distance and par five scoring. As always, I will also be looking at GIR. If you can’t find the green you can’t score. If you want to win Draftkings contests you need birdies and eagles to do so.

Since the Valero Texas Open began play at this course in 2010, I have always focused on driving accuracy as a key statistic. However, the widening of the fairways in this year’s event will allow players to be more inconsistent off the tee. This basically makes driving accuracy no longer an essential need for players to find scoring opportunities.

2019 Valero Texas Open: Draftkings Picks

Jason Kokrak (9,400)

Kokrak has yet to win a tournament on the PGA Tour. In my opinion, he is on the way to changing that very soon. The American has made 17 straight cuts on Tour. In this tournament’s field, Kokrak ranks 10th in GIR and 16th in driving distance. He has six top 20 finishes in his last eight events. This includes his runner up finish in The Valspar Championship in his last tournament on Tour.

Byeong-Hun An (9,200)

If you want to look at consistency as a narrative than look no further than Byeong-Hun An. An is currently the Tour leader in consecutive cuts made. For the record, that’s 18 straight cuts. For me, I love consistency in a player I choose for Draftkings lineups. If you are not playing the weekend, you can’t help my lineups. Rest assured, that An will be playing the weekend. Additionally, An has four top 26 finishes in his last seven starts.

Aaron Baddeley (8,300)

Baddeley has outstanding course form at this event. He has played the Texas Open 10 times and never missed a cut. He has six top 20 finishes a this event as well. As far as current form, Baddeley has been somewhat inconsistent in 2019. However, he does have four top 20 finishes on the year.

D.J. Trahan (6,700)

My value play this week is Trahan. I am not sure what the guys at Draftkings were thinking with pricing Trahan at 6,700. I am aware that he has had limited appearances on Tour year. However, Trahan has made the most of those opportunities. He has made six of seven cuts this year. He also has three straight top 20 finishes coming into this event. He currently ranks 7th on the PGA Tour in GIR.

Next. Texas Open: Top 10 power rankings at TPC San Antonio. dark

If you are looking for additional players to fill out your lineups this week I also like the following:

Nick Taylor (7,200)

Matt Jones (7,200)

Julian Etulian (6,700)

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