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2022 Valero Texas Open Breakdown and Picks

By Josh Chandler

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - APRIL 04: Matt Wallace of England plays his shot from the 16th tee during the final round of Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio Oaks Course on April 04, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - APRIL 04: Matt Wallace of England plays his shot from the 16th tee during the final round of Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio Oaks Course on April 04, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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You can almost smell the azaleas, it is that time of year as the Masters is now just over a week away. Excitement is at an all-time high as well with rumblings in recent days suggesting Tiger Woods will be part of the action next week. All of this makes focusing on this week’s Valero Texas Open nearly impossible, but focus we must!

The 2022 Valero Texas Open is the official last stop on the schedule before the first major of the year begins next week in Augusta. If you have yet to book your place at the Masters, this week provides you with one final opportunity. The winner of the Valero Texas Open will have the added bonus of accomplishing just that, provided of course that they haven’t done so already.

The AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio is set to host the Texas Open this week once again, as has been the case since 2010. The course provides a relatively lengthy challenge for players as it plays at around 7,400 yards in total length. Still, shorter hitters have found success here before so this tournament is open to a wide range of winners.

It is a relatively weak field that is making its way down to San Antonio this week, in fact, the 223 rating makes it the fifth weakest field on the schedule in 2022 so far. Many of the best players are prepping for next week, and honestly, who can blame them.

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Bryson DeChambeau are several names that will play this week in Texas. Let’s take a look at the favorites and dig into a few picks for this week’s Valero Texas Open.

The Favorites at the 2022 Valero Texas Open

                   (Odds Courtesy of WynnBet)

  • Rory McIlroy  (+800)
  • Jordan Spieth  (+1400)
  • Corey Conners  (+1800)
  • Abraham Ancer  (+2000)
  • Hideki Matsuyama  (+2000)
  • Bryson DeChambeau  (+2500)
  • Chris Kirk  (+2800)
  • Gary Woodland  (+2800)
  • Adam Hadwin  (+3300)
  • Si Woo Kim  (+3300)
  • Tony Finau  (+3300)

More. 2022 Valero Texas Open: Top 10 power rankings at TPC San Antonio. light

Valero Texas Open, TPC San Antonio, PGA, 2022 Valero Texas Open
PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – MARCH 27: Hayden Buckley of the United States plays his shot from the eighth tee during the final round of the Corales Puntacana Championship at the Corales Golf Course on March 27, 2022 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Pick to Top 20:  Hayden Buckley (+600)

Fresh off a 13th place finish at the Corales Puntacana Championship last week the young and talented Hayden Buckley is poised for another great week this week. Buckley rates out 4th in strokes gained off the tee and 9th in ball-striking amongst this week’s qualified field in 2022.

That all should serve him well on TPC San Antonio’s lengthy Oaks Course, as should the fact that one of his better PGA finishes came at the comparable TPC Summerlin course in 2021, where he finished 8th.

Pick to Top 10:  Kevin Streelman (+450)

I like Streelman a lot this week and actually think he is live to win the Valero Texas Open, I’ll play it a bit safer though, and take Kevin to finish top 10 in this spot. Streelman has a nice history at TPC San Antonio with two top 10s and two top 15s in four of six starts here. He is also coming into this week on the back of some quality starts with a 22nd place finish at the Players Championship, and a 7th place finish at the Valspar Championship in his last start. This perfect blend of form/history could serve Kevin well this week as he looks to punch a ticket to Augusta.

Pick to Top 5:  Corey Conners (+400)

It is hard to ignore the fact that Conners is well-positioned to win the Valero Texas Open once again after previously doing so in 2019.  He comes into this week after an excellent showing at the WGC-Dell Match Play where he made a run to the semi-finals before falling to Kevin Kisner. Corey would go on to crush Dustin Johnson in the 3rd place playoff to finish off a fantastic week in Austin.

An 11th and 26th place finish in two starts prior to last week indicate that he is playing very well once again. The Canadian has a terrific history at TPC San Antonio and he rates out 3rd in ball-striking, 3rd from off the tee, and 17th in strokes gained approach amongst this week’s field. Combine all that with his recent performance and it is easy to envision Conners winning this week, however, having stated all of that I’m just gonna go with a top 5 finish this week for Conners as he gears up for another great outing at the Masters next week.

Next. Decade by decade, the best of the Masters. dark

Pick to Win:  Gary Woodland (+2800)

Woodland, at long last, appears to be getting back to his best and a run of two top 5 finishes in two of his last four starts further emphasizes this fact.  He finished 6th at the Valero Texas Open last year when, quite honestly, he wasn’t playing nearly as well as he currently is.

Gary has gained strokes with his approaches in four consecutive events now and appears to be on the verge of winning once again, I’ll take a chance that he puts that altogether this week in Texas and walks away with the W.

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