This week the PGA Tour is off to San Antonio, Texas for the Valero Texas Open. The tournament dates back to 1922 and has always been played in the San Antonio area. Numerous courses have hosted the event during this time.
$250 VALERO TEXAS OPEN FREE BET
This year the tournament is being played on the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio where it has been for the last four years. It is a Par 72, 7522 yard course that was designed by Greg Norman with the consultation of Sergio Garcia and was opened in February 2010. The tees, fairways and rough are Bermuda grass while the greens are Ultradwarf Bermuda grass.
The course is rated one of the more difficult Par 72 on tour with the thick rough and tight fairways playing havoc on the field. Driving accuracy and Greens in Regulation are two stats that stand out this week. This year the rough is noticeably shorter while several greens went under renovation prior to last years tournament. Precision play from tee to green will be important again this week.
The Purse this year is US$6.2 million with the Winner taking home US$1,116,000. Last years Champion Martin Laird is here to Defend his title.
The Bookies Top 5 in betting are 16/1 Zach Johnson, 16/1 Phil Mickelson, 16/1 Matt Kuchar, 18/1 Jimmy Walker and 18/1 Jordan Spieth.
Other notable players to tee it up this week include Ryan Palmer, Jim Furyk, Jason Kokrak, Billy Horschel, KJ Choi and Ernie Els.
The two players to follow this week are-
Freddie Jacobson – $26 at Sportsbet.com.au
Freddie had a poor start to the 2014 season with a T76th at the Humana Challenge before withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open sighting an injury. He backed that up with two missed cuts at the AT&T Pebble Beach and Northern Trust.
Then things clicked into gear for this likeable Swede. T12th at The Honda Classic, T20th at the Valspar Championship and T10th last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
It looks like Freddie is now enjoying his golf and has found the groove again. This all points to a big week for Jacobson as his course form here is second to none. 2nd in 2010, 5th in 2011, 18th in 2012 and 15th last year. That’s four Top 20’s!
We all know how good a putter he is and this could be the week that it all comes together and we could see Freddie up there challenging on Sunday afternoon.
Ryo Ishikawa – $51 at Sportsbet.com.au
Much like Freddie Jacobson, Ryo has had a slow start to the year. Four missed cuts in his first six tournaments!
It took a trip to the Puerto Rico Open to reignite his flame where managed a T19th finish. From there it was a T25th at the Valspar Championship and a T8th last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Stats wise Ryo is ranked 37th in Greens in Regulation, 11th in Birdie average and 8th in Par 5 birdie or better average. It is the Par 5 stats that stand out for me this week with Ryo. In the last three tournaments he has been -8, -9 and -8 on the Par 5’s. With four of them to contend with this week we can expect more great scoring form him.
Good Luck and Good Punting.