Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- Valero Texas Open

OVERVIEW
Stroke play returns this week as we head from Austin to San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open. This week is quite bizarre as the majority of players who have strong course history are coming in with bad form and those in form either haven’t played here often or have never played here. The weather at the Valero over the years has been a hot button topic as the winds can get nasty and stacking a tee time draw has proven beneficial in the past so it’s important to keep an eye on that this week. If the wind isn’t whipping, scoring can be around tournament average and even become easy at times as this is a TPC course with ample room to miss fairways off the tee. The greens are tough to hit, mainly because of the winds (the course playing above sea level probably has a bit to do with this as well), so scrambling is a stat to target this week on top of the typical strokes gained metrics we usually target. Finally, with the list of winners at this event over the years, I think roster construction will be interesting this week. I think Rickie will be a popular play as he’s a strong wind player who putts well on bermuda grass and comes in rested after two weeks off. For One & Done leagues, I think the chalk will be on Kuchar & Furyk coming off the strong play at the Match Play event last week. The mid-range players like Ancer, Bjerregaard, Hoffman, Palmer and Walker will probably garner the next chunk of ownership leaving players like Spieth, Byeong Hun An and Horschel as contrarian top plays. As of writing, I’m fighting with the notion of playing Ancer in leagues where I’m trailing and Finau or Horschel in leagues where I’m at or near the top.

TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND

o The Course
• TPC San Antonio
• Par 72
• 7,400 yards
• Bermuda greens
o Location: San Antonio, TX
o Corollary Courses/Performances:
o Past Champions:
• 2018: Andrew Landry -17 over Trey Mullinax & Sean O’Hair
• 2017: Kevin Chappell -12 over Brooks Koepka
• 2016: Charley Hoffman -12 over Patrick Reed
• 2015: Jimmy Walker -11 over Jordan Spieth
• 2014: Steven Bowditch -8 over Will Mackenzie & Daniel Summerhays

KEY STATS TO TARGET

o Strong Emphasis – SG: APP, Par 5 Scoring, Birdies or Better, Scrambling
o Important – SG: OTT, APP 150-175y, APP 175+y, P4 Scoring 400-500y

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