Finally, we’re just one tournament away from the Masters! Luckily for us, we don’t have to wait to watch some great golf still. This week, we get the Valero Texas Open at the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas. 130 players will be teeing it up for their share of $9,800,000 and a chance at 500 FedEx Cup points. With players coming off of some layoffs, as well as needed good placements to secure their place in Augusta, we see a fairly strong field overall. Let’s dive in and break it down!

Don't forget, when looking to build your lineups, make sure to take advantage of our PGA DFS Projections, PGA DFS Ownership, and PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer to get every advantage you can. Let's dive in!

 

 

Valero Texas Open 2026: Daily Fantasy Golf Picks & Projections

As the tournament just before the Masters, we have a ton of eyes on this non-signature event. While some major names are skipping this week to rest up for the Masters, we've still got some big names looking to get a win to qualify and some who are just trying to stay ready to play such as Collin Morikawa who is returning for the first time since a back injury took him out of the Players. Even without the big names we see in other fields, Valero has been the home to some major performances, from Mike Souchak setting the PGA Tour 72 hole record of 27 under par in 1955 which stood until 1998, to Corey Conners winning after Monday Qualifying to become the first player to complete such a feat since 2010. With no shortage of fun storylines at play this week, let's take a look at the course hosting the event.

 

 

TPC San Antonio Oaks Course: Course Breakdown This Week

There are many out there who think this is a very boring golf course. I tend to disagree. The Oaks Course is a Par 72 playing at 7,438 yards and is a Pete Dye and Greg Norman design. Built in 2009, this has hosted the Valero Texas Open since 2010, so we do get to see a strong history of play here. Additionally, this is a top 5 course in terms of predictiveness, meaning historical results take a much larger impact here. 

The top historical performers in the field this week (mimimum 8 rounds played) include: Jordan Spieth, Charley Hoffman, Denny McCarthy, Thorbjorn Olesen, Matt Kuchar, SH Kim, Alex Noren, Brandt Snedeker, Keith Mitchell and Lucas Glover. Additionally, the following players have multiple top 10 finishes in the last 5 years: Andrew Novak, Jordan Spieth (2021 winner), Matt Kuchar, Gary Woodland, Chris Kirk, and Brendon Todd. Each player listed above has a game that makes sense here, so this will be factored into my model weighting this week. 

With our standard 4/10/4 layout in terms of pars this week, we see some additional correlations come into play. With all Par 3’s playing 170+, All but one Par 4 playing between 400-500, and all Par 5s playing 550+ with two over 600 (the hardest par 5's on tour by the way), clearer scoring buckets come into play. Additionally, as the length in this course would imply, distance approach is huge here. In 2024, nearly 20 percent of approach shots came from 250+ yards out. Funny enough, the next most important approach buckets are the buckets from 50-125, which all played well above average tour importance. This has been consistent over the last few iterations of the event. The putting surface here is Poa Trivialis, but the slower speeds make this play more like bentgrass, which will be factored in this week as well. 

In terms of pure course fit based on average strokes gained distributions (meaning their strokes gained distributions line up most similarly to the course) our top players for the course itself are: Nick Dunlap, Brendon Todd, Peter Malnati, Eric Cole, Camilo Villegas, Vince Whaley, Patton Kizzire, Beau Hossler, Jeffrey Kang, and Stephan Jaeger.

One thing to note is that the rough at this venue will be playing up to 3 inches this year, nearly a full inch higher than we've seen in recent history. Given the 4th narrowest fairways on average, it will not be surprising to see players taking less than driver off the tee, and having to approach the green out of the rough. Both of these factors are taken into account when building my model this week, as well as bogey avoidance, birdies or better gained, distance putting, scrambling, and sand save percentage.

While there are quite a few courses with similar strokes gained distributions, it’s clear that TPC San Antonio requires much better play around the greens. Monterey Peninsula Country Club, one of the rotational courses for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, plays most similarly, though as previously mentioned does not have as much importance on play around the green. The only course that has a similar distribution that’s been consistently in rotation is TPC Summerlin, which hosted events until last season. 

 

Valero Texas Open 2026 Field: Golf DFS

As previously mentioned, with Augusta next week we do have some players taking the week off, but we still see a strong field overall this week. Tommy Fleetwood leads the way as the 4th ranked player in the world, and is joined by Russell Henley in the top 10. Additionally, we have 6 more players inside the top 25 who are in contention this week. Previous winners are no stranger this week either as Brian Harman looks to defend his title, and Jordan Spieth, Charley Hoffman, J.J. Spaun, and Jimmy Walker look to add another Valero Texas Open win to their resume.  

 

 

This Week’s PGA DFS Optimizer & Lineup Generator

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PGA Best Bets & Predictions: 2026 Valero Texas Open (8-14 Overall, +5.86 Units)

  • S.H. Kim: Top 20 (+380)
  • Brendon Todd: Make Cut (+198) 
  • Valero Texas Open One and Done Picks: 
    • David Ford
    • Alex Smalley
    • Sudarshan Yellamaraju 
 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: Top Tier
Tommy Fleetwood ($12,100 FanDuel/$10,500 DraftKings)

Fleetwood is certainly priced up this week but it's with good reason. He's a top 5 player on approach and over the last 24 rounds total in this field, top 10 in bogey avoidance and scoring, and top 25 in Good Drives Gained and Putting on this surface. He doesn't have a win yet this season, but does have 3 top 10's on his resume, and is looking to continue to build momentum into Augusta. He's a near lock to make the cut this week and has the firepower to take this one him.

Russell Henley ($11,800 FanDuel/$9,800 DraftKings)

Henley leads my model this week, and it's very clear why. He's 1st in Distance From Edge of Fairway, Bogey Avoidance, and Birdie or Better Percentage in this field. He's top 5 in scrambling, and is top 10 in Good Driver Percentage on courses where it's difficult to gain strokes off the tee and we will see less than driver frequently. I'm going to be honest with you and just flat out say that at his moment, I struggle to see anyone but Henley take this home if he continues his recent form.

Hideki Matsuyama ($11,100 FanDuel/$9,300 DraftKings)

While I do really like Hideki this week, it's not without some real concerns as well. He's been spraying his driver all over the planet this year, and is in the bottom 20 in Distance from Edge of Fairway. That said, he's tied for 1st in Bogey Avoidance, is 1st in Scrambling, and he's a top 15 putter on this surface. I'm willing to believe he can keep the driver in play this week and the rest of his skills take over.

 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: MID-TIER

Sepp Straka ($10,700 FanDuel/$9,200 DraftKings)

While I tend to fade Straka on longer courses, I can't ignore the overall profile here at this venue. He's accurate off the tee, is a top 5 approach player in this field, and is 6th in SG: Putting on Bentgrass/Poa. His distance putting numbers are strong as well, which leads me to believe the distance “disadvantage” he has this week can be minimized through the strength of his overall play, especially if the firm conditions we've seen thus far in Texas hold.

Maverick McNealy ($10,800 FanDuel/$9,000 DraftKings)

McNealy has just been so solid this year. He's got just one missed cut, 3 top 20's and even though the recent form hasn't been the strongest, he's still registered a T32 finish at the Players. The only statistic in my model where he isn't at or above field average this week is Sand Save Percentage. If he stays out of the sand this week, he should be solid yet again.

Alex Noren ($10,200 FanDuel/$8,700 DraftKings)

Noren has been a bit of an under the radar player this year, but he's made 4 straight cuts, and registered finishes of T32 or better in all of them, including a top 12 at the Genesis. He's much like Straka in the sense that he is not long off the tee, but he's extremely accurate, even on his misses (13th in DFEF). His distance putting and approach from inside 100 yards is rough comparatively, but he's a sneaky name who could provide some strong diversification value.

 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: VALUE TIER

David Ford ($7,800 FanDuel/$6,700 DraftKings)

I'm taking some shots here in the value tier this week, and Ford is one of them. Statistically, he lines up so well for this venue. He's top 10 in DFEF and SG: Approach, as well as top 20 in Bogey Avoidance and Total Strokes Gained in this field. That's enough for me to be willing to take the swing. 

Sam Ryder ($8,100 FanDuel/$6,500 DraftKings)

Ryder is a longshot, and not my favorite here, but I'm trusting the numbers. He's top 20 on approach, top 12 on this putting surface, and has solid enough scoring numbers to make me have some hope that he can win. He'll need to avoid bogeys, and he'll have to keep it in play off the tee, but if he does that, he's got a shot.

S.H. Kim ($7,900 FanDuel/$6,900 DraftKings)

S.H. Kim has played here twice and has finished T15 or better twice. That alone makes this worth a shot for me, but statistically the profile isn't terrible. He's got above average numbers in DFEF, Bogey Avoidance, Scrambling, SG: Putting, Sand Save Percentage, and distance putting. I've seen worse profiles do a lot more.

 

 

PGA DFS Picks This Week (Cheat Sheet)

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