The Valero Texas Open marks the final event before the first major of the year and with that, there are plenty who are using this week as a tune-up – and plenty more who are hoping to stamp the final ticket available to Augusta National Golf Club.

This is also the final week for players looking to earn their way into the RBC Heritage via the Aon Swing 5.

With the Masters around the corner, here’s everything else you need to know about the second Texas tournament in a row on TOUR.

FIELD NOTES: Collin Morikawa is back. After withdrawing from THE PLAYERS Championship after just one hole, Morikawa is set to make his return at the Valero Texas Open as a warm-up before the Masters. Morikawa, a winner already this season, has played the Valero just once before. He finished T75 in 2024. … The highest-ranked golfer in the field will be Morikawa’s Los Angeles Golf Club teammate, Tommy Fleetwood. Fleetwood, fresh of helping lead LAGC to the second SoFi Cup championship at TGL earlier this month, has three top-10 finishes already this season. His best result at the Valero Texas Open came in 2024 when he finished T7. … Ludvig Åberg also returns to action for the first time since THE PLAYERS and when he struggled down the stretch. Åberg also has two top 10s this year and has had a bit of a mixed bag of results at the Valero – two missed cuts but a T14 sandwiched in between as well. … Russell Henley, Sepp Straka, Alex Noren and past winer J.J. Spaun are the other top-20-ranked players in the field. … Brian Harman will return to defend his title. No one has gone back-to-back at the Valero Texas Open since Zach Johnson in 2008-09. … Gary Woodland is also set to tee it up after his incredibly emotional triumph at the Texas Children’s Houston Open – less than three years removed from brain surgery. … Woodland punched his ticket to the Masters with his win in Houston and now there are plenty looking to do the same. The final golden ticket is up for grabs at TPC San Antonio with the winner of the event, if he is not already qualified, earning his way to the first major of the year. This has happened in three of the last six tournaments with Spaun (2022), Akshay Bhatia (2024) and Corey Conners (2019) earning their way in.

HIGHEST RANKED PLAYERS IN THE FIELD

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: A handful of veteran PGA TOUR winners and multi-time champions will tee it up at the Valero Texas Open, with Ryan Palmer, Camilo Villegas, Jimmy Walker and Brandt Snedeker receiving invites. … Snedeker was firmly in the mix through 54 holes at the Valspar Championship before he struggled Sunday. But still he recorded a top-20 finish – best of the year.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The next Signature Event on the schedule is the RBC Heritage. … The top five FedExCup points earners in the Puerto Rico Open, Valspar Championship, Texas Children’s Houston Open and this week at the Valero Texas Open will earn spots in the RBC Heritage via the Aon Swing 5. … The top 10 FedExCup points earners through the Masters will earn spots in the RBC Heritage. … Despite missing the cut at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, David Lipsky still leads the way in the Aon Swing 5. … Johnny Keefer, thanks to his T3 in Houston, jumped into the fourth spot in the standings, while Chandler Blanchet, Jordan Smith and Marco Penge are also inside the top five. Penge leads by just five points over the No. 6 spot. … With his T6 in Houston, Jake Knapp padded his lead in the Aon Next 10 and now leads No. 2 Nico Echavarria by almost 100 points in the standings. … Gary Woodland, with his win in Houston, moved to No. 7, while Nicolai Højgaard, who was solo second at Memorial Park, is now No. 3 in the standings. … Rookie Sudarshan Yellamaraju, who finished T5 at THE PLAYERS, ended up T6 at the Houston Open and is now No. 8 in the Aon Next 10 standings as he looks to qualify for his first Signature Event.

72-HOLE RECORD: 254, Tommy Armour III (2003 at La Cantera)

• TPC San Antonio record: 268, Corey Conners (2019), Akshay Bhatia (2024), Denny McCarthy (2024)

18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Bart Bryant (third round, 2004 at La Cantera), Zach Johnson (third round, 2009 at La Cantera)

• TPC San Antonio record: 62, Trey Mullinax (third round, 2018)

LAST TIME: It was a cold and blustery finale, but in the end, former The Open Championship winner Harman closed with a 3-over 75 that was good enough to win the 2025 Valero Texas Open. Harman held off a hard-charging Ryan Gerard, whose 3-under 69 was one off the low round of the day (and was one of just seven rounds under par on Sunday), with two birdies on his back nine. Although he gave them back with bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16, his even-par 36 on the final stretch was the key to Harman winning for the first time since his major triumph in 2023.

Maverick McNealy and Andrew Novak – who was in the final group with Harman – finished tied for third, while there was a seven-way tie for fifth including Thorbjørn Olesen and Patrick Fishburn, whose 4-under 68s were the best rounds of the day in Sunday’s finale.

How to follow (all times ET)

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App)
• Saturday: 1-3:30 p.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App), 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
• Sunday: 1-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)

PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+:

• Thursday-Friday: 8:15 a.m.-7 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 10:15 a.m.-6 p.m.

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+ and consists of four streams:

• Main feed (Stream 1): Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee group (Stream 2): New "Marquee group" showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured groups (Stream 3): Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured holes (Stream 4): Combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes

PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATOUR.com/liveaudio:

• Thursday-Friday: 1-7 p.m.
• Saturday: 3-6 p.m.
• Sunday: 1-6 p.m.