SAN ANTONIO — When the Valero Texas Open tees off Thursday, some of the best golfers in the world will converge on TPC San Antonio.
The 144-player field for this year's event remains full of popular names even after Dustin Johnson withdrew Monday afternoon. Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson, Tony Finau, Gary Woodland, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker, Keegan Bradley, Scottie Scheffler and Ryan Palmer, among many others, are still part of the TPC San Antonio field.
And it's always a discussion leading up to tournament week, the week before The Masters: Who is going to play? Who is not? Many of the worlds top players take off the week before Augusta National to recharge and ready themselves for the pursuit of the green jacket.
Valero Texas Open kicks off in San Antonio
Although, by the list of names above, you can obviously see this year's tour stop in San Antonio has plenty of headline names.
"I've played every time into The Masters, and it is not like I feel I have to do that," said 11-time PGA Tour winner Jordan Spieth. "Each tournament round I'm gaining a little more confidence. I'm learning a little bit about where things are at, and on-course repetitions are different than practice repetitions."
Nine-time PGA Tour winner Matt Kuchar is playing in his 16th Valero Texas Open, and he offered some thoughts on this week's venue.
"You've got to drive the ball well here, and then some of the approach shots have characteristics similar to Augusta with the elevation changes, the run offs and the collection areas," Kuchar said. "I think it is a nice warmup to next week's Masters."
Round one starts on Thursday, and it will include defending champion Corey Conners from two years ago after the cancellation of the 2020 tournament due to the pandemic.
"It has really been cool to be back and kind of remember that good stuff," Conners said. "I definitely have lots of positive stuff, and positive energy out there going my way. I'm excited to be back here, ultimately two years later, but still have great memories, and it was an amazing final round, a round I'll remember for the rest of my life."