Golf Glance: Final Masters spot at play in Texas; LIV makes '25 U.S. debut
Field Level Media's Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Texas Children's Houston Open (Min Woo Lee)
THIS WEEK: Valero Texas Open, San Antonio, Texas, April 3-6
Course: TPC San Antonio, Oaks Course (Par 72, 7,438 Yards)
Purse: $9.5M (Winner: $1.71M)
Defending Champion: Akshay Bhatia
FedExCup leader: Rory McIlroy
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/Peacock); Sunday: 1-2:30 (GC), 2:30-6 (NBC/Peacock)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 8:15 a.m.-7 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @ValeroTXOpen
NOTES: The Valero Texas Open was first held in 1922 and is the longest-running PGA Tour event to be held in the same city since its existence. ... The winner will earn a spot into next week's Masters if not already exempt. ... This is the final event for players to earn spots into the next signature event at the RBC Heritage via the Aon Swing 5. The list is currently led by Karl Vilips, Gary Woodland, Sami Valimaki, Davis Riley and Ryo Hisatsune. ... Bhatia led after each of the first three rounds last year before defeating Denny McCarthy on the first playoff hole. He's seeking to become the fifth player to successfully defend at the Valero Texas Open and the first since the event moved to TPC San Antonio in 2010. ... San Antonio native Mac Meissner will make his 39th career PGA Tour start and tied for 10th here last year. ... Amarillo, Texas, native Ryan Palmer is making his 22nd start in the event, the most by any player in the field. He tied for sixth in 2017 and had a T17 in 2021 but missed the cut in 2023 and 2024.
BEST BETS: Ludvig Aberg (+1200 at DraftKings) of Sweden is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 5. In addition to winning The Genesis in February, he also tied for fifth at The Sentry. ... Canadian Corey Conners (+1600) claimed both of his PGA Tour wins to date at this event (2019, '23) and enters this week with three consecutive results of T8 or better. ... EnglishmanTommy Fleetwood (+1600), who tied for seventh here last year, is still seeking his first stroke-play victory in the United States. ... Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (+2000) also finished T7 here last year and won The Sentry to begin 2025. ... Akshay Bhatia (+2500) led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and Strokes Gained: Approach to Green last year. ... Daniel Berger (+3000) has five consecutive T25 or better finishes, including a T2 in Phoenix, as he seeks his first win since 2021.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Masters Tournament, Augusta, Ga., April 10-13
LPGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Ford Championship (Hyo Joo Kim)
THIS WEEK: T-Mobile Match Play, Las Vegas, April 2-6
Course: Shadow Creek Golf Course (Par 72, 6,765 Yards)
Purse: $2M (Winner: $300,000)
Defending Champion: Nelly Korda
Race to the CME Globe leader: A Lim Kim
HOW TO WATCH
TV/Streaming: Wednesday: 6-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/NBC Digital); Thursday-Friday: 6-9 p.m. (NBC Digital), 7-9 p.m. (GC); Saturday: 6-9 p.m. (GC/NBC Digital); Sunday: Semifinals, 1:30-3:30 p.m. (NBC Digital), Final, 6-9 p.m. (NBC Digital); 6:30-9 p.m. (GC)
X: @LPGAMatchPlay
NOTES: The 64-player field is divided into 16 four-player groups competing in three days of round-robin matches. A win earns one point, a tie earns a half-point and a loss is zero points. The winner of each group moves on to a 16-player, single-elimination bracket beginning Saturday. In the event of a tie for first place in a group, a playoff will determine which player advances. The quarterfinals will be played on Saturday, with the semifinals and final on Sunday. ... Korda defeated Leona Maguire 4 & 3 in last year's final.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: JM Eagle LA Championship, Los Angeles, April 17-20
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
LAST TOURNAMENT: Singapore (Individual: Juaquin Niemann; Team: Fireballs GC)
THIS WEEK: LIV Golf Miami, April 4-6
Course: Trump National Doral (Par 72, 7,701 Yards)
Purse: Individual $20M (Winner: $4M); Team: $5M (Winners: $3M)
Defending Champions: Individual: Dean Burmester; Team: Legion XIII
Season Leaders: Individual: Niemann; Team: Fireballs GC
HOW TO WATCH
TV/Streaming: Friday-Saturday: 1:15 p.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus); Sunday: 1:05 p.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus)
X: livegolf_league
NOTES: This is the fifth of 13 events on the 2025 schedule, which will be followed by the Team Championship. ... The field consists of 13 four-player teams competing in daily shotgun starts over 54 holes. Each team's top three scores are counted for each round. ... Doral plays host to its first regular-season event after being the venue for the Team Championship concluding the league's first two seasons. ... Niemann is the only player with multiple individual titles this season, while Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm is the only player with top-10 finishes in each of the first four events. ... Wild card Anthony Kim will make his first start in the United States since returning to professional golf last after a nearly 12-year retirement.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf Mexico City, April 25-27
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
LAST TOURNAMENT: The Galleri Classic (Steve Allan)
THIS WEEK: James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational, Boca Raton, Fla., April 4-6
Course: The Old Course at Broken Sound (Par 72, 7,008 Yards)
Purse: $2.2M (Winner: $330,000)
Defending Champion: Inaugural event
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Friday: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ET; Saturday: 3:30-6 p.m.; Sunday: 2:30-4:30 p.m. (All times Golf Channel)
X: @ JamesHardieInv
NOTES: The field includes 78 Champions players and about two dozen Pro Football Hall of Fame members and other former players. Former NFL stars committed to the event include Ronde Barber, Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Terrell Davis, Richard Dent, Dwight Freeney, Jimmy Giles, Mike Haynes, Marshall Faulk, Rickey Jackson, Calvin Johnson, Brian Kelley, Steve Largent, Nat Moore, Anthony Munoz, Jonathan Ogden, John Randle, Andre Reed, Ed Reed, Warren Sapp, Duane Starks, Jan Stenerud, Lawrence Taylor, DeMarcus Ware, Roger Wehrli. The football legends will play two-man best-ball Friday and Saturday only. ... Masters champion Angel Cabrera was added to the field when Mark Hensby withdrew.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mitsubishi Electric Classic, Duluth, Ga., April 25-27
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