Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (Sam Burns)
THIS WEEK: Valero Texas Open, San Antonio, Texas, March 30-April 2
Course: TPC San Antonio, Oaks Course (Par 72, 7,438 yards)
Purse: $8.9M (Winner: $1.602M)
Defending Champion: J.J. Spaun
FedEx Cup leader: Jon Rahm
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-3:30 p.m. (GC), 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC)
Twitter: @ValeroTXOpen
NOTES: Spaun earned his first PGA Tour victory in his 147th career start last year. The last player to successfully defend a Valspar title was Zach Johnson in 2009. … Players in the field who are not already eligible for the Masters must win this week in order to earn an invite to Augusta next week. That includes Rickie Fowler, while 11 players in this week’s 144-player field are already eligible for the Masters. … Lucas Glover will make his 500th career PGA Tour start. … Nicolai Hojgaard and Ricky Barnes are in the field courtesy of top-10 finishes at last week’s Corales Puntacana Championship. … Tommy Armour III holds the tournament scoring record of 254 set in 2003. … Arnold Palmer won the first three editions of the event from 1960-62.
BEST BETS: Tyrrell Hatton (+1200 at BetMGM) makes his tournament debut as the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 17. He has three top-10s in seven starts this season, including a runner-up at The Players. … Fowler (+1800) has three top-10s in 11 starts this season, his most since 2018-19. … Si Woo Kim (+1800) won the Sony Open to begin his 2023 schedule and is coming off a T17 last week. … Hideki Matsuyama (+2500) cited his recurring neck injury in withdrawing from last week’s Match Play, but he did post a solo fifth at the Players earlier this month. … Taylor Montgomery (+2500) is the top rookie in the FedEx Cup standings at No. 22 as he comes off a playoff loss in group play last week. … Davis Riley (+2800) enters in solid form, with a pair of top-30s in three events since a T8 at Bay Hill.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Masters Tournament, Augusta, Ga., April 6-9
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: LPGA Drive On Championship (Celine Boutier)
THIS WEEK: DIO Implant LA Open, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., March 30-April 2
Course: (Par 71, 6,258 yards)
Purse: $1.75M (Winner: $262,500)
Defending Champion: Nasa Hataoka
Race to the CME Globe leader: Celine Boutier
HOW TO FOLLOW
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 7-9:30 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m. (All times golfchannel.com, NBCSports.com, NBA Sports App)
Twitter: @lpga_la
NOTES: The 144-player field will be cut to the top 65 and ties after 36 holes. … Brooke Henderson holds the tournament scoring record of 16-under 268 set in 2021. … Nelly Korda leads the U.S. standings for the 2023 Solheim Cup team with 316 points, followed by Lilia Vu (272.5), Lexi Thompson (258), Danielle Kang (240.5) and Jennifer Kupcho (196). Team Europe’s standings are led by Maja Stark (208.17), Linn Grant (192.5), Ana Pelaez Trivino (113.17), Manon De Roey (94.75) and Carlota Ciganda (88.75).
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Lotte Championship, Ewa Beach, Oahu, Hawaii, April 12-15
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: The Galleri Classic (David Toms)
THIS WEEK: OFF.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Invited Celebrity Classic, Irving, Texas, April 21-23
–Field Level Media
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