- Branden Grace, South Africa — When Grace won for the first time on the European Tour in the 2012 Joburg Open, he followed by winning the Volvo Golf Champions the next week. He will try to do the same this week in the Valero Texas Open after claiming his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday in the RBC Heritage. Grace, now No. 12 in the World Golf Rankings, has 11 victories in his career and on three occasions has won twice in a matter of weeks. He has four other top-10 finishes and eight in the top 25 this season, including a victory in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. He is making his third start at TPC San Antonio, having tied for 79th in 2014 and tied for 30th last year.
- Jimmy Walker, United States — Walker, a hometown hero, defends his title this week at TPC San Antonio. He claimed his fifth victory on the PGA Tour a year ago by closing with a 2-under-par 70 that included two late birdies to beat fellow Texan Jordan Spieth by four strokes. Walker is making his 10th appearance on the AT&T Oaks Course. He also tied for third in 2010, finishing two shots behind winner Adam Scott of Australia. Walker hasn’t started this season as well as he has the last few, but he does have three results in the top 10 and six in the top 25 — missing a chance to win the Farmers Insurance Open when he lost the lead in the final round while shooting a 77 to wind up sixth.
- Patrick Reed, United States — Like fellow Texan Jimmy Walker, Reed has won three seasons in a row on the PGA Tour but has yet to break through in 2015-16. He is playing at TPC San Antonio for only the third time, having tied for 35th in 2012 and missed the cut the following year — failing to break the par of 72 in any of his six rounds. Despite not winning, Reed has played well this season, with seven finishes in the top 10, including three in a row recently. He tied for seventh in the WGC-Cadillac Championship, tied for ninth in the WGC-Dell Match Play and tied for 10th in the Shell Houston Open. His best result was second, eight shots behind Jordan Spieth in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
- Brandt Snedeker, United States — Coming off a missed cut in the RBC Heritage, Snedeker will try to bounce back in what has been a strong season thus far when he plays in the Valero Texas Open for only the second time. He finished solo fourth at TPC San Antonio in 2011, two strokes behind champion Brendan Steele. After missing the cut twice in the fall portion of the 2015-16 schedule, Snedeker has finished in the top 10 on six occasions in the new year, including his eighth PGA Tour victory in the Farmers Insurance Open. He also lost in a playoff to Fabian Gomez of Argentina at the Sony Open in Hawaii, tied for third in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, tied for ninth in the WGC-Dell Match Play and tied for 10th in the Masters.
- Phil Mickelson, United States — After a missed cut in the Masters, where the three-time champion shot 72-79 — 151, Lefty returns to play in the Valero Texas Open for the third time. He didn’t tee it up at TPC San Antonio before withdrawing because of a pulled muscle in his right side after 10 holes in round three following a 77-70 start two years ago. Last year, he returned to tie for 30th. Mickelson has had his moments this year, including a tie for third in the CareerBuilder Challenge, second in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and a tie for fifth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He has won the Colonial (twice), the Shell Houston Open and the Byron Nelson Classic, so a victory on the AT&T Oaks Course would give him the Texas Slam.
- Matt Kuchar, United States — Kooch has not been the top-10 machine that he was the last several years, but he has tied for ninth in both the WGC-Dell Match Play and the RBC Heritage recently after tying for eighth in the Northern Trust Open. However, his game has not been that far off, as he has seven top-25 results in 11 tournaments this season. Kuchar is playing in the Valero Texas Open for the 12th time. He tied for second in 2002, two strokes behind winner Justin Leonard, and also tied for fourth two years ago. He shot 7-under-par 65 in the third round of the latter but closed with a 75 and wound up two shots behind champion Steve Bowditch of Australia.
- Bryson DeChambeau, United States — After his sensational pro debut last week, a tie for fourth in the RBC Heritage, DeChambeau received an exemption for the Valero Texas Open, which does not count against the seven he gets in which to earn his PGA Tour card. He closed with a 3-under-par 68 at Harbour Town and picked up 122.50 FedEx Cup points, a good start toward the 361 he needs to unlimited sponsor exemptions for the rest of the season. DeChambeau, coming off a tie 21st that made him low amateur in the Masters, also collected $259,600 for his top-10 finish a few days after signing a lucrative contract with Cobra Puma Golf, and also could earn his card by reaching $747,899 in official earnings. He should be a gallery favorite at TPC San Antonio after he won the NCAA Championship last year for SMU.
- Luke Donald, England — Even though Donald was unable to hold on for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2012 Transitions Championship last week in the RBC Heritage, the former No. 1 player in the World Golf Rankings hopes his tie for second at Harbour Town gives him added momentum heading to TPC San Antonio. Donald said he was motivated by failing to qualify for the Masters, or any other major for that matter, for the first time since 2004, although he missed two in 2008 because of a wrist injury. He is playing in the Valero Texas Open for the fourth time, but he hasn’t been there in 13 years. Donald tied for 71st in 2001, tied for 18th the following year when he finished 64-68-66, and tied for 34th in 2003.
- Zach Johnson, United States — Zach seemed to have his game heading in the right direction when he finished fifth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and tied for ninth in the WGC-Dell Match Play, but then he missed the cut in the Masters and tied for 33rd in the RBC Heritage. However, it was only one bad round that got him each time as he opened with a 72 at Augusta before coming back with an 80, and was tied for fifth at Harbour Town before closing with a 77. Johnson is playing in the Valero Texas Open for the fifth time, and won it in 2009, closing with 62-64 at La Cantera Golf Club to beat Charlie Wi, Tim Wilkinson and Mark Wilson by two strokes. Two years ago at TPC San Antonio, he tied for sixth.
- Charley Hoffman, United States — If Hoffman can figure out a way to overcome his final-round problems, he should be a contender again this week at TPC San Antonio. He has been in good position for high finishes several times this year but has struggled with a final-round scoring average of 74.75, which ranks 200th on the PGA Tour. It happened again last week, when Hoffman was tied for the lead after starting 68-68 and still was in the hunt after a third-round 71, but closed with a 75 to tie for 14th. He is making his 10th start in the Valero Texas Open and has finished outside the top 13 only once, including a tie for second in 2013, one stroke behind winner Brendan Steele, and a tie for third in 2013.
–Courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
