Landon Silinsky previews the Valero Texas Open and gives his picks for your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups.
The PGA TOUR finishes its two-week Texas swing as we sit just one week away from the Masters. TPC San Antonio will host the Valero Texas Open, and measures as a 7,438-yard par 72 with Poa Trivialis overseeded greens.
The field is pretty strong considering we are one week from the biggest event of the year, as Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Cantlay and Hideki Matsuyama will all be getting their final tune up in before making the trek to Augusta.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
Akshay Bhatia ($9,300)
As mentioned above, there is plenty of firepower in the field this week, but I still like taking the discount on Bhatia in this spot. The 23-year-old is the defending champ at this event, as he took down Denny McCarthy in a playoff to capture his second-career PGA TOUR win here last year. In addition, he’s entering play this week absolutely red hot, having posted three top-nine finishes across his past four starts.
One of those came his last time out at THE PLAYERS, where Bhatia gained 5.6 strokes on approach and 1.8 more off-the-tee en route to a T3 finish at TPC Sawgrass. There is virtually no weakness in Bhatia’s game right now, as he sits 19th or better in this field in all of SG: Tee-to-Green, SG: Ball-Striking and SG: Putting over his past 16 rounds. Overall, he ranks fifth in Total Strokes Gained in that time frame, and is now coming back to a course where he shot 20-under-par last year to take home the trophy.
After a week of rest, Bhatia should be ready to defend his title this week and get his final prep in for the Masters next week. At just $9,300, he’s presents a massive discount to some of the big names at the top, but has extremely similar win equity.
Sam Stevens ($8,000)
This is one you simply do not need to overthink. Stevens is a cut-making machine, and has found the weekend in 15 of his past 17 PGA TOUR starts. TPC San Antonio has really caught his eye as well across his two career trips here, having finished T14 and solo second each of the past two years, respectively.
Stevens will never wow you with any particular skill, but he’s long off-the-tee and is average-to-above average depending on the week with both his irons and short game. He always seems to do enough to stick around for four rounds, and he’s taken that up a notch when playing at this event for some reason.
Even at this slightly elevated $8,000 price tag, Stevens makes for an easy click this week, and is a strong third golfer to fit into your lineups if you start with Bhatia.
Tom Hoge ($7,400)
When Hoge is on his game, there are maybe five golfers on the planet who are better iron players than him, and that is not hyperbolic either. Last year, Hoge ranked fourth on the PGA TOUR in SG: Approach behind only Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau and Corey Conners. He’s not been quite as sharp to begin 2025, but that all changed in last start at TPC Sawgrass two weeks ago, where the former TCU product went absolutely bonkers with his irons. Hoge gained a whopping 9.9 strokes on approach at THE PLAYERS, which of course led the field.
In addition, and maybe more importantly, he gained strokes off-the-tee for the first time since the Pebble Beach Pro-Am back in late January. When Hoge finds any type of form he seems to get scorching hot with both his irons and flat stick, and it appears we are headed in that direction after his T3 at TPC Sawgrass his last time out.
As for course history, Hoge has played TPC San Antonio six times in his career (none since 2021), and has a pair of top-12s to show for it with four missed cuts as well. It’s really hard to fade a guy who just gained almost 10 strokes on approach in a single week, especially at $7,400. I will gladly take my chances that Hoge’s recent form is going to stick around for a bit.
