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Since there isn’t a clear-cut favorite or a horse for the course who’s in blistering form entering the Valero Texas Open, the pressure is on front-runners to keep the opposition at bay. For those of you in this position, the concern is quieted if Billy Horschel is still on your board. The veteran of eight appearances hasn’t won the tournament, but he’s earned your better judgment with a pair of third-place finishes, one fourth and a T11 among six cuts made at difficult TPC San Antonio. The key word there is difficult. Only if you’re new to the PGA TOUR are you unaware how much the former FedExCup champion relishes a challenge. It feeds his confidence off the tee where he lets others make mistakes, but he’s even better with his irons. Oh, and he’s currently eighth in Strokes Gained: Putting. As a native of Florida, Horschel is most comfortable on bermudagrass putting surfaces, even if they’re overseeded, which is the case this week. The undulations are equalizers. His experience here could be the dagger. Among all of the non-winners at TPC San Antonio, he best fits the profile of what a champion embodies. If Horschel isn’t on his game, TPC San Antonio will get annoying and quickly. Its length demands driver, but if the big stick isn’t cooperating, it’ll take all of his patience to salvage a round. This is how Greg Norman intended it. The Shark was legendary tee to green, so it’s hardly a surprise that the course that he designed reflects what he did best. If you’re in pursuit and you’re going to assume that you’re going to get stymied by Horschel, you’re in terrific position. Lucas Glover, Jason Kokrak and Ryan Palmer are three strongmen who presents as threats. To select Glover is to invest almost entirely on his form throughout 2018-19. He missed the cut in his only prior trip to TPC San Antonio (in 2015), but two rounds of experience never hurts no matter the result. Kokrak fulfills the converging trends, if mildly. He’s never been more consistently strong over this most recent stretch of time, and he’s 5-for-7 at TPC San Antonio with a pair of top 15s, albeit it’s been four years since the latter. Palmer is an example of what happens when there isn’t synergy with the driver. He’s hung up five top-15s in this tournament, but he’s also finished outside the top 50 thrice, twice for a missed cut. That may seem academic and familiar for most veterans on any track, but we already know him to thrive or dive with the 1-metal. Whereas Horschel is the low risk-high reward, Palmer is the medium risk-medium reward. Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth are wasteful in our format this week. Stick with reliable sites for each. How Spieth performs this week will seriously impact his probability at the Masters despite one of the best modern records at Augusta National. Watch him this week specifically with that in mind. No doubt there’s a contingent that’s been holding its breath for the VTO’s all-time earnings leader, Charley Hoffman, to break out of his funk in time for TPC San Antonio. Because he hasn’t, at least enough, slot him with the same mindset as Palmer. Because the course will beat up a few notables, two-man gamers are advised to reach a bit for your tandem this week. Consider Aaron Baddeley, D.J. Trahan and Sung Kang. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Byeong Hun An … Memorial (1) Daniel Berger … Travelers (1) Tony Finau … Valero (5); Memorial (2) Rickie Fowler … Masters (2); Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (10) Brian Harman … Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) Russell Henley … Masters (3) Charley Hoffman … Valero (3); Masters (4); Heritage (7); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1) J.B. Holmes … Wells Fargo (5) Billy Horschel … Valero (2); New Orleans (3; defending); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (1) Si Woo Kim … Heritage (1) Chris Kirk … Valero (3); Charles Schwab (2) Matt Kuchar … Masters (6); Heritage (2); Charles Schwab (7); Memorial (1); Open Championship (8) Martin Laird … Valero (5); Reno-Tahoe (2) Ryan Moore … Valero (7); Masters (13); Memorial (11); Travelers (6); John Deere (8); Wyndham (2); TOUR Championship (9) Ryan Palmer … Valero (2); Charles Schwab (4) Jordan Spieth … Masters (1); PGA Championship (7); Charles Schwab (5); Memorial (13); U.S. Open (4); Travelers (9); Open Championship (6); TOUR Championship (8) Brendan Steele … Valero (8); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Reno-Tahoe (3) Kevin Streelman … Valero (9); Heritage (5); Memorial (4); Travelers (7) Jimmy Walker … Valero (2); Byron Nelson (6)

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Emergency 9 Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Valero Texas Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The AT&T Oaks Course in San Antonio has been the host since 2010 and plays 7,435 yards to a Par-72. Just Like He Drew it Up Andrew Landry fired a final-round 68 to post a tournament record 17-under-par 271 and win for the first time on the PGA TOUR. Posting all four rounds in the 60’s he becomes the first native Texan to win this event since Justin Leonard in 2007. If he had any nerves on Sunday, he rarely displayed them. Opening with birdies on his first three holes, he opened up a two-shot lead that he would never relinquish. Trey Mullinax, also playing in the final group, cut that lead to one on No. 10 but Landry held his nerve and wouldn’t be denied. He had a few fortunate breaks that all winners need but he was excellent all week long. He led the field in SG: approach the green, tee to green and GIR. He was second in scrambling and T2 with 21 birdies. On a big, bad course he was only T46 in driving distance but he only squared four bogeys, tied for the least on the week. The 30-year-old should have thrown up a few red flags last year on the Web.com Tour as he won the second of event of the season and then added six more top-five finishes. Gamers will point out that the Texan has been incredibly efficient this year when he makes the cut. This was his fourth top-10 finish in six weekends from 13 starts. He also had a great learning experience leading the U.S. Open at Oakmont after Thursday in 2016 and fighting with Jon Rahm in a playoff at the CareerBuilder Challenge. Landry already had the biggest win of his life on March 23 as he and his wife welcomed their first child, Brooks, to the world. I guess #NappyFactor needed a week to knock the rust off as he closed with 75 last week to collect T42. Plenty of diaper money, sure, but this week will buy A LOT more! As gamers know, winning for the first time on TOUR changes everything and doesn’t ensure immediate (Kizzire) or continued success (Potter, Jr.). I’m going to rely on the total body of work here as I move forward. He obviously didn’t “fake it” through an entire season last year. His stats don’t jump off the page but his results do. There’s something to be said for that. Figuring out when he’s going to fire is going to be something completely different. Stay tuned! Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO This is the most brutal top 10 we’ve seen in some time. Landry’s first top 10 on TOUR was at the John Deere Classic, an event where Johnson and Moore have done quite well in recent years. Interesting. Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO The Billy Horschel Fan Club (acting president: ME) was hoping for one more on one of the last two holes but it wasn’t to be. It will be a nice gain this week, but not the big prize gamers were looking for to move up the leaderboard. Close Encounters Trey Mullinax picked up his third top-25 finish in a row and his second top 10 in three starts. The big bomber who set the course record Saturday didn’t look out of place on Sunday playing in the final group. His final two holes cost him plenty of cash. He threw the sod over it on No. 17 and made a bogey and his errant tee shot on the last took out possibility of eagle. It also took all of the pressure off of Landry to make birdie. Although he KILLS IT off the tee, I’ll point out that he also led the field in SG: putting. His only top 10 in 28 events last year was at Erin Hills and he’s already doubled that output. Quail Hollow should set up perfectly for his game! Rally Cap Sean O’Hair was the only guy on the course who didn’t want this event to end. After his blazing 65 on Saturday he roared back with 66 more on Sunday for the low round of the day. He matched Landry with 21 birdies, was second in GIR and third in SG: tee to green. His birdies on the final two holes saw him share second with Mullinax. Similarly to Mullinax, O’Hair also had a solid Valspar (T12) followed by T7 at Bay Hill. His T64 at the Houston Open and MC last week at Harbour Town threw gamers off the scent. His four rounds at par-or-better were his first ever in 12 rounds at this event. That didn’t help either! Streel Wheels Kevin Streelman (T8) backed up his top 10 last week at the RBC Heritage (T7) with another one this week. As he’s known to do, he heated up faster than the weather in Hill Country, which never happened this week, as he closed round three with five consecutive birdies. He added six more on Sunday to sign for 67 for his fourth top-10 finish this season and his best finish in five tries at the VTO. #Play72 Jimmy Walker continued his very solid form he flashed at the Masters (T20) to cash solo fourth this week. This was the first time all year that he put all four rounds in red figures and remarked after Round 3 that he was feeling stronger. It should also be pointed out he bogeyed the easiest hole on the course both days of the weekend while shooting 67-67 while leading the event with 24 birdies. He also made a double on Thursday on the Par-5 No. 18. Arrows way up. … First-round leader Grayson Murray might have had the second-most impressive round of the week behind Mullinax’s course record on Saturday. He played the weekend in 1 over but still cashed T16, his third T16 or better in his last four events. He went close at Quail Hollow last year in the PGA Championship before fading late. … Sunday Silence Zach Johnson should have had the upper hand entering Sunday. The two-time major champion was playing in the final group, tied for the lead, with two guys who had never won on TOUR. Looking for his first win since St. Andrew’s in 2015, Johnson could never get dialed in Sunday. He turned in even-par 36 and his bogey at the last knocked him out of T4 but it was his best result since the Valero Texas Open moved to TPC San Antonio. Before the week started, all gamers who invested would have taken this result no questions asked. He’s now rattled off 14 cuts in a row and this was his best finish since solo second last summer at Firestone. … Charley Hoffman backed up his T40 last year with T64 this year and had nothing better than T71 on the week. … Matt Kuchar, a week-in and week-out savings bond for gamers, has shown again that this week might be a pass moving forward. He added T51 this year to T40 last year and T42 in 2016. There’s not many, if any, places I’ll fade Kuchar but this would qualify. Study Hall The final round scoring average ticked just over par at 72.125 and there were no bogey-free rounds. The scoring average for the week was 72.367 and was helped by a friendly course set-up on Friday plus a storm system that never materialized on Saturday. … Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly played together for T5 at Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge. They are paired at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as well. … 44-year old lefty Eric Axley was declared the winner after 54 holes at the North Mississippi Classic on the Web.com Tour after rain washed out the final round. Ole Miss senior Braden Thornberry (a) was T22. Write his name down and thank me later.

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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Ben Hogan had to wear two sweaters when he won at Carnoustie. This year, players have been able to get by in shirt sleeves. A week of sunshine and warm weather is putting the course’s well-earned reputation in danger. This is, after all, a place most famous for a triple-bogey. Carnoustie is supposed to be the hardest course in The Open’s rota but Great Britian’s record-setting summer has stripped the course of some of its largest defenses. No one has ever finished double-digits under par at Carnoustie, in large part because of the cold, wind and rain that are common on the coast of the North Sea. The heat has turned Carnoustie’s rough brown and brittle, allowing players to hit into it with impunity, and the rock-hard fairways are making the course play short. Ice cream sales may be up, but Carnoustie’s scoring records are in danger. Three players – Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner – share the Saturday lead in this Open Champiosnhip at 9 under par. Carnoustie saves its toughest holes for last, though, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the course isn’t going down without a fight. Players know that 14 holes of hard work at Carnoustie can quickly be dashed in the hour before they sign their scorecard. Therefore, it’s appropriate that the toughest conditions have been saved for The Open’s final day. The sun is still expected to shine Sunday, but wind gusts are forecast to exceed 30 mph. “I think … tomorrow to expect the unexpected,â€� Spieth said. “It’s ideal for Carnoustie to have a bunched leaderboard and 25 mph winds on Sunday.â€� Sunday’s forecast has been a topic of discussion since the start of the week in the rental house shared by Kisner, Spieth and several of their friends. “It’s going to be a true test, and we’ll get to see really who’s hitting the ball the best and playing the best tomorrow,â€� Kisner said. That’s the way The Open is supposed to be. The Wee Ice Mon won over the fans at Carnoustie in 1953 by being a “stern man for a stern game,â€� one reporter wrote. Tom Watson started his mastery of the links with a win here in 1975, the first of his five Opens. And one of the grittiest players of this era, Padraig Harrington, won the first of his three majors at Carnoustie. Saturday was the second-easiest day in Carnoustie’s history. Spieth said that a majority of the holes played downwind as the wind blew from the southeast. The field averaged 72.4 strokes, and there were seven scores of 66 or lower. “It was the day to be aggressive today,â€� Francesco Molinari said after his 65. He’s in fifth place, three shots behind the leaders and one behind Kevin Chappell. Seven players are stacked four shots back. Sunday may be the day to grind out a score. Spieth said the winner could be someone who’s been sitting in the clubhouse for hours when the final group reaches 18. Carnoustie is the site of the largest comeback in major history. Paul Lawrie was 10 back when he shot a final-round 67 to win here in 1999. Of course, that win was accompanied by some unique circumstances. Anything is possible with high breezes and firm fairways, where off-line shots could go bounding toward Carnoustie’s deep pot bunkers, which are among the most difficult in The Open rota. Then there’s that pesky burn that winds through the final hole. The field has averaged nearly a stroke over par on the closing three holes. Those holes are difficult in any conditions. Carnoustie normally offers a warm welcome, but even its opening holes could be difficult with Sunday’s wind, Spieth said. “Tomorrow it’s going to be a grind just to get started, and those are kind of the easy holes on the golf course,â€� Spieth said. “(Today) we had probably the easiest wind this golf course can have, but when it goes off the left side, …, that’s when you start getting more into the wind. “It’s going to be a meaty start, not to mention, obviously, the last few holes to finish.â€� “I’m really excited to see how hard it can play,â€� Kisner said. “I think that’s the way major championships should be down the stretch, as hard as possible.â€� He just may get his wish.

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