We are just a week away from The Masters so that means this week’s Valero Texas Open is going to have a weak field. In fact, this week’s event in San Antonio only has one player ranked in the latest World Golf Rankings. Tyrrell Hatton is ranked No. 17 in the world and he is listed as the golf betting favorite at BetRivers at odds of +1200. Corey Conners and Rickie Fowler are the only other golfers listed with odds of less than +2000, as each player is listed with odds of +1800. The weak field gives us an opportunity to pick the winner at a big price. Let’s look at Valero Texas Open picks.
Venue: TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course) is a par 72 that measures 7,435 yards. This course is one of the longer on the PGA Tour, but somewhat surprisingly, accuracy off the tee has proven to be more important on this course than distance off the tee.
Last Year: J.J. Spaun picked up the first win of his career in this event a year ago.
TV Coverage: NBC & Golf Channel
Valspar Championship Odds
Hatton, Tyrrell +1200
Conners, Corey +1800
Fowler, Rickie +1800
Si Woo Kim +2000
Montgomery, Taylor +2500
Matsuyama, Hideki +2500
Kuchar, Matt +2500
Kirk, Chris +2800
Riley, Davis +3000
Noren, Alexander +3300
Spaun, J.J. +4000
Detry, Thomas +4000
Taylor, Nick +4500
Fox, Ryan +4500
Griffin, Ben +4500
Todd, Brendon +4500
Bezuidenhout, Christiaan +4500
Wallace, Matt +5000
Putnam, Andrew +5000
Hojgaard, Nicolai +5000
Davis, Cameron +5000
Rai, Aaron +5000
Ryder, Sam +5500
Schenk, Adam +6000
Hardy, Nick +6000
Gordon, Will +6600
Pendrith, Taylor +6600
Rodgers, Patrick +6600
Byeong Hun An +6600
Smalley, Alex +6600
Thompson, Davis +6600
Stevens, Sam +8000
Hossler, Beau +8000
Duncan, Tyler +8000
Martin, Ben +8000
Straka, Sepp +8000
Kim, S.H. +8000
Streelman, Kevin +9000
Wu, Brandon +9000
Hubbard, Mark +9000
Shelton, Robby +9000
Lashley, Nate +9000
Grillo, Emiliano +9000
Palmer, Ryan +9000
Glover, Lucas +9000
Bramlett, Joseph +9000
Daffue, MJ +9000
All other players are listed with odds of +10000 or more
Favorite
Hatton, Tyrrell +1200
The favorite in golf betting has been a losing proposition over the years and the favorite lost again last week when Scheffler was eliminated in the semifinals. It was reported that Hatton hurt his hand on the driving range last week and then he lost all of his matches in group play. I wouldn’t take Hatton as the favorite anyway, and an injury doesn’t help his cause.
Value Picks
Fowler, Rickie +1800
I know that Fowler is going to be a popular pick this week and that fact alone has me a little bit leery, but Rickie has been playing well of late. He has three top 10 finishes this season and he has played well in San Antonio in the past. This is his last chance to qualify for The Masters and it just might happen.
Montgomery, Taylor +2500
I think Montgomery is going to win sometime soon and he should have a good chance this week. His putting gives him a big advantage on many courses and in this field, I think he is a standout. I think we have some value on him at these odds.
Matt Kuchar +2500
There are not that many players in this field who know how to win but Kuchar is one of them. He has actually been playing much better of late and he ranks highly in a number of important categories this week. He is strong in Shots Gained: Approach and that is an important category each week.
Fox, Ryan +4500
Fox has played well in each of his PGA Tour starts and he was playing well on the DP World Tour with three straight top 20 finishes. He will take advantage of his distance off the tee on this course and he can contend in this weak field.
Griffin, Ben +4500
I am a little surprised the price on Griffin is so high. I liked what I saw from him in the Match Play and I think he is more than capable of doing well this week against a watered-down field.
Andrew Putnam +5000
This is just the type of event where Putnam can find himself on the leaderboard. He played well last week in the Match Play finishing in a tie for 9th and I think that momentum will carry over to this week.
Check out the latest Valero Texas Open odds at BetRivers.
