The azaleas are nearing full bloom and the iconic soundtrack is at the ready. The Masters is nearly here, but for a large segment of the PGA TOUR, there’s still one valuable week to play.

The Valero Texas Open is significant for many reasons. First, the winner will get into the first major championship of the year, if they’re not already in. Second, it’s the last chance for players to test their game against top competition before jetting down to Augusta National.

That’s the case for the stars, especially. Several golfers who are expected to be favorites at the Masters are playing at TPC San Antonio this week in preparation. What do those players need to work on before Augusta?

Let’s look at five looming questions.

Collin Morikawa’s health

Collin Morikawa’s late withdrawal throws a big wrinkle into the throughline of this week’s tournament. He was expected to make his first start since he withdrew after one hole at THE PLAYERS Championship last month with back spasms, but pulled out of Valero on Tuesday.

The goals for this week in San Antonio were simple: emerge from it healthy and knock off any competitive rust that accumulated from three weeks off. Those now roll over to Augusta National, a tougher test with more scrutiny. That Morikawa continues to deal with the lingering effects of the injury, now three weeks since the origin, makes it more difficult to prognosticate.

The timing of the injury was unfortunate for the two-time major winner. He felt the spasm while taking a practice swing on the 11th tee at TPC Sawgrass. Morikawa said he had dealt with the issue before and knew he could not attempt to play through it. That also suggests he knows the process for calming it and continuing on.

Before the injury, Morikawa was enjoying the best start to a season in some time. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and finished T7 and solo fifth in his next two starts, leading into THE PLAYERS Championship. He’s first on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach and figured to be a popular pick at Augusta National. He’s finished no worse than T14 in his last four starts at the year’s first major. Can he continue that trend? Or will the back issues prove to be fickle?

We thought we’d get a first look at Valero this week. Instead, those looming questions will hang over Morikawa into Masters week.

Ludvig Åberg’s resilience

How will Ludvig Åberg respond after his collapse at THE PLAYERS? The biggest test will come next week at the Masters, a tournament he’s threatened to win in both of his two previous appearances, but Åberg’s first chance to put that sour result to bed is in San Antonio.

Åberg has become fond of playing the week before major championships. He did it the last two years before Augusta, though the result in Texas doesn’t always foreshadow what’s ahead. He was T14 two years ago, then finished runner-up at the Masters. Last year, he missed the cut in San Antonio, only to contend until the 72nd hole on Sunday at Augusta. Regardless, this start is more about Åberg’s psyche than his form.

With the two Masters close calls and THE PLAYERS blunder, Åberg has started to amass a bit of scar tissue. A win in San Antonio would do wonders in repairing some of those wounds.

Jordan Spieth’s driver

Is Jordan Spieth playing well enough to contend at Augusta National? The answer always seems to be yes. It’s the one tournament a year that he can show up regardless of form and contend, but as the annual hope of Spieth's renaissance at Augusta renews, it would do him well to show signs of progress in one major category: driving.

Spieth is gaining strokes in every category except off the tee, a crucial reason why Spieth has flashed bouts of top form this year but has too often faded by making big numbers. That’s what happens with an erratic driver.

It’s a departure from recent seasons, when, despite broad struggles from Spieth, he drove the ball well. He was top 40 on TOUR off the tee in the last two seasons, so his 2026 performance is a notable downturn.

You can get away with some inaccuracy at Augusta National, but it requires players to shape shots both directions and have confidence in the club. That’s what he needs to find in Houston. Spieth ranks 113th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee this season. He’s driven it well at TPC San Antonio recently, gaining strokes off the tee in his last four visits there. Perhaps it’s just the place to give Spieth the needed confidence.

Tommy Fleetwood’s putting

In search of his first major championship, one thing is assured: Tommy Fleetwood will need to putt better at Augusta National if he hopes to don the green jacket. In a strange, perhaps fluky, early-season development, Fleetwood has struggled mightily on the greens. Typically a sure part of his game, Fleetwood ranks 122nd in putting this season. That’s despite ranking in the top 30 in three of the previous four seasons.

At first glance, perhaps it was just the pesky Poa annua on the West Coast that got to him. A quick look at the stats disproves that. Those two weeks – in Pebble Beach and Los Angeles – were Fleetwood’s best statistical putting weeks this season. Finau’s struggles came in Florida, losing considerable ground to the field at both Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass.

Fleetwood has had mixed success on Augusta National’s greens. He has gained strokes in both his last two top-20 finishes (2024 and 2022), but lost more than a stroke a year ago.

So can Fleetwood turn his putting around ahead of the Masters? That’s the challenge in Texas this week.

Fowler and Finau’s next start

There’s only one way left for players to play their way into the Masters next week: win. That’s the edict for anyone in the field that is without an invite, including a pair of big names: Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau.

Both men played in Houston last week, trying to do the same. Fowler missed the cut, his first this season. Finau made the weekend but was never in contention, finishing T39. Finau is attempting to qualify for the Masters for the ninth straight year, while Fowler is trying to avoid missing the event for the fifth time in six years.

It’s Fowler who has played better this season. He’s amassed four top 20s and has played particularly well in the first two rounds of tournaments this year – three times entering the weekend inside the top 10. That indicates good golf, but he’s yet to sustain it for four rounds and a top result. Finau, meanwhile, is still searching for his first top 10 in 14 months. He’s dropped all the way to 107th in the Official World Golf Ranking, outside the qualification criteria for all four majors – let alone the Masters, the most exclusive field of them all. Finau’s history at the Valero is spotty. He finished third in 2017 but has otherwise not finished inside the top 25 in five other appearances.