By TERRY LYONS, Editor Digital Sports Desk
SAN ANTONIO – Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch coverage of the 2026 Valero Texas Open in this fantastic, but hot, Alamo City.
This week’s field includes 15 of the Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, headlined by two players inside the Top 10:
- No. 4 Tommy Fleetwood
- No. 10 Russell Henley
The last spot in the Masters Tournament is available to the winner of the Valero Texas Open, if not otherwise qualified. There are currently 22 players in the field that are exempt for the Masters Tournament, with the majority of the field having a chance to earn that final spot in the Masters Tournament field.
Three of the last six winners of the Valero Texas Open qualified for the Masters Tournament with their victory (2019/Corey Conners, 2022/J.J. Spaun, 2024/AkshayBhatia). Only Connors is playing this week.
Players in the field already invited to the Masters: Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Max Homa, Johnny Keefer, Michael Kim, Si Woo Kim, Haotong Li, Robert MacIntyre, Hideki Matsuyama, Matt McCarty, Maverick McNealy, Alex Noren, Andrew Novak, Marco Penge, Kristoffer Reitan, J.J. Spaun, Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka, Nick Taylor, and Sami Valimaki
Johnny Keefer, a PGA TOUR rookie and San Antonio resident, is making his tournament debut this week. He is coming off his best finish in 14 career PGA TOUR starts with a T3 at last week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open.
In his rookie season on TOUR, owns five made cuts in eight starts and sits at No. 60 in the FedEx Cup standings. He played five seasons collegiately at Baylor University where he broke the school record for career scoring average (71.45) previously established by six-time PGA TOUR winner Jimmy Walker (71.55 from 1997-2001).
Gary Woodland, Nicolai Højgaard, Daniel Berger, Ricky Castillo and David Lipsky were amongst the stampede of WDs from the tournament.
Collin Morikawa, who was in the field until Tuesday morning when he withdrew due to a lingering back injury her suffered at The Players.
Valero Texas Open | Tournament Facts
COURSE: TPC San Antonio
YARDS/PAR: 7,438 yards/Par 72
ARCHITECTS: Pete Dye/Greg Norman
PRIZE Money – Purse: $9,800,000/Winner: $1,764,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Brian Harmon
PAST RESULTS: (link)
FEDEx CUP: Points to Winner: 500
TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW: (link)
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @valerotxopen
Valero Texas Open | Field/Updates, Tee Times and Leaderboard
The Field: (link)
Updates:
Friday. March 27
Ryan Gerard WD / Matt Kuchar IN
Saturday, March 28
Isaiah Salinda WD / Justin Lower IN
Aaron Wise WD / Taylor Moore IN
Sunday, March 29
Bronson Burgoon IN (top 10 previous event)
Ryan Palmer IN (unrestricted sponsor exemption)
Monday, March 30
Pierceson Coody WD / Taylor Moore IN
Nicolai Højgaard WD / Joel Dahmen IN
Matti Schmid WD / Sam Ryder IN
Gary Woodland WD / Jackson Suber IN
Nick Hardy IN (open qualifier)
Charlie Crockett IN (open qualifier)
Tuesday, March 31
Daniel Berger WD / Lanto Griffin IN
Collin Morikawa WD / Frankie Capan III IN
David Lipsky WD / Carson Young IN
Ricky Castillo WD / Chan Kim IN
Tee Times: (link)
Tournament Leaderboard: (link)
Last Year’s Leaderboard: (PGATourCom)
Last Week’s Leaderboard: (PGATourCom)