2021 Valero Texas Open Sleeper Picks

Valero Texas Open Sleeper PicksThe week before the Masters Tournament is not where you want your tournament to be. Nevertheless, the Valero Texas Open is on this week and we will still give you a breakdown of what to look for when making your Sleeper Picks for the Valero Texas Open as well as some of our Valero Sleepers for the week.

Because the Masters is on next week you shouldn’t expect a great field playing this week. There will be some big names playing as a tune up but some of those may also just be tinkering with their game and not care if they make it to the weekend or not.

The big names committed to the 2021 Valero Texas Open are: Abraham Ancer, Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Tony Finau. These will be the favorites to win the Valero but to win a DFS fantasy golf contest you will need to find some sleeper picks to fill in your lineup at a site like DraftKings.

You can check out our sleeper picks below or you can trust the experts in making DraftKings picks here:

Valero Texas Open Golf Course

TPC San Antonio AT&T Oaks Course par 72 - 7,435 yards

We mentioned that many players skip the Valero because it’s the week before the Masters Tournament but they also skip it because of TPC San Antonio. It is ranked consistently as one of the hardest courses on the PGA Tour year after year and it doesn’t resemble Augusta National at all so players that want to fine tune their game for next week don’t want to play a course that is nothing like next week’s big tournament.

TPC San Antonio is a pretty long course so you’ll want to target longer hitters off the tee. Historically most of the past winners have ranked inside the top 25 for distance during their wins averaging almost 300 yards off the tee. That being said, being long is less important than being accurate since there are some narrow fairways and some guys will club down and sacrifice distance to land it onto the fairway.

There are four Par 5’s here and this is where most of the scoring chances will come but those would be more birdie chances as it is pretty tough to reach them in two. Previous winners have mostly ranked in the Top 10 in Par 5 scoring during the week. Because the big hitters have a bit of an advantage this week I would also look for guys that have good Par 4 scoring averages as this is where there will be birdie chances for guys that can leave themselves a short wedge on to the green with their second shot.

Another stat to consider when trying to find sleeper picks for the Valero Texas Open is Greens in Regulation. The average green size for the course is 6400 which is middle of the road on the PGA Tour but there are 58 bunkers on the course and three holes where water will come into play. That second shot will be important to try to get it close to the pin for a birdie putt with almost every winner in the past being in the Top 20 in GIR percentage for the week.

Can’t forget about putting stats. Just because you can get it close to the hole doesn’t mean you can make it! Look for guys with solid putting stats from within 10 feet to take advantage of the birdie tries. Although we mentioned that TPC San Antonio is a tough course, it does give up scores and winners in the past have shot anywhere from – 8 to -26. Birdie average is another stat to look at along with the putting stats.

Strokes Gained Tee to Green is a great stat taking an overall look at a combination of driving accuracy, driving distance, greens hit and proximity to the hole results. Guys that excel at Tee to Green will be a good bet for success this week.

In past years weather, mainly the wind has changed how the tournament has ended up with bad blows either wiping out a morning group or an afternoon group. Take a peek at what the weatherman has to say and see if there are players that have an advantage because of their tee time, or minimize your exposure to the winds by finding guys who generally have a low ball trajectory who can offset the winds by not having a huge loft on their ball.

Scrambling stats are key this week too. Some guys are going to get into trouble, especially if they are trying to get distance off the tee. Who can get out of that trouble on a consistent basis will have a better chance of finishing well this week.

Summary of Key Stats for the Valero Texas Open:

Strokes Gained: Tee to Green

Par 5 Scoring

Par 4 Scoring

Greens in Regulation %

Driving Distance

Driving Accuracy

Putting average/strokes gained: putting

Scrambling

Ball Striking

2021 Valero Texas Open Tournament Preview

Check out our preview page for the 2021 Valero Texas Open

2021 Valero Texas Open Fantasy Golf Sleeper Picks

Zach Johnson - Johnson finished 5th the last time he played TPC San Antonio and won this tournament back to back in 2008-2009, although it was at a different course. This golf course is similar to Augusta in which Zach also has won as well. He should be able to make the cut and give you some cheap DFS points this week. I may even bet on Johnson to finish in the Top 20 this week at his current betting odds for the Valero Texas Open.

Matt Kuchar - Father time has caught up to Kooch but he played well last week in the WGC Match play tournament and is 8 for 8 in cuts made at the Valero with four top 15’s and he finished tied for 7th the last time the Valero Texas Open was played. Not the solid daily fantasy golf pick he used to be but this week he is worth popping into some of your lineups as a sleeper that could make some noise over the weekend.

Aaron Baddeley - More of a longshot fantasy golf pick this week based solely on his career record at the Valero Texas Open. He is 8-8 in cuts made and has 5 top 20 finishes. He has been pretty horrible this year otherwise and played decently last week at the Corales PuntaCana tournament. Again, if you want a contrarian sleeper pick this week, Baddeley could be your guy.