Final spot in Masters up for grabs at Valero Texas Open

The PGA Tour heads to TPC San Antonio this week for the final stop on the calendar before the 2025 Masters. 

Some call this event the Valero Texas Open. I like to call it the Corey Conners Invitational. 

Both of the Canadian’s two PGA Tour wins have come at this event, and last year he defended his 2023 title with a tie for 25th. 

The 33-year-old enters this week playing some of the best golf of his career, with three straight top-10 finishes as he seeks the third win on tour.

Conners at +1600 has the third shortest odds of any player in the field this week to win. But like most of the top players in this event, the Canadian would probably be happy this week to play well and take some momentum into next week for the Masters, the first major of the season. 

Speaking of the Masters, last week’s Houston Open was the final chance for players to get inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to secure an invite to the event. 

While most of the big names in this field have already secured their invites, there’s still one final seat available at the table. 

This week, just like most weeks on the PGA Tour, the winner will get an invite to the Masters. It’s the final chance for a few notable names to sneak in at the last second. 

Conners’ route to the Masters in 2019 and 2023 were both the same – with a win at this event in his final opportunity. This week Adam Svensson and Ben Silverman will try to become the latest Canadians to do the same. 

In 2022, American J.J. Spaun was the 242nd-ranked player on OWGR and won this event to secure an invite to golf’s most prestigious event. 

Here are a few guys looking to do the same this week.

Bud Cauley +5000 / OWGR 101 

Despite turning pro in 2011, Bud Cauley enters this week needing a win to qualify for his first Masters appearance.

Cauley has been solid in 2025 and has back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time since 2017, which ironically included his only Top 10 at the Valero Texas Open. 

Cauley is fifth on the PGA Tour this year in Par 4 scoring, 13th in total putting and 29th in strokes gained: tee to green. 

His last win came on the Web.com Tour in 2014. Four years later a car accident would derail his career. Cauley was quick to return to the tour following the accident, which left him with a rib injury. But after the ribs completely healed, he was forced back into surgery 22 months after the accident to remove plates from his chest.

From there complications, including doctors finding bone had grown over the plates, led to several more surgeries and Cauley missed over three years of action between Sept. 2020 and Jan. 2024. 

Model Rank: 30

Rico Hoey +8000 / OWGR 121 

If Rico Hoey has 100 fans I am one of them. 

If Rico Hoey has 10 fans I am one of them. 

If Rico Hoey has 1 fan I am him. 

If Rico Hoey has 0 fans, something tragic has happened to me. 

Hoey has been one of the worst-kept secrets in golf over the past 12 months and has become a darling of #GolfBettingX. 

And for good reason, Hoey enters this week the best ball striker in this field (statistically) with his off the tee and on approach numbers besting all of the elite talent this field has to offer. 

Unfortunately for Hoey, his stat profile remains as evergreen as before and he is the third worst putter this year in this field. Fortunately for Hoey, he gained over 2.5 strokes putting in this event last season and I’m hoping he can do it again this year. 

Hoey has gained strokes putting in just 13 PGA Tour events since last January, making the cut in 12 of them, with all four of his top 10s coming in events he has putted well. 

If Hoey can replicate his putting success at this event from 2024, he just might get his first PGA Tour win on Sunday. 

Model Rank: 6

Alex Smalley +7500 / OWGR 124 

Boom or bust. That’s been the theme for Alex Smalley in 2025.

The 28-year-old has played in nine events this year with six top 25s and three missed cuts. 

He enters this week after missing the cut at the Texas Children’s Houston Open despite gaining 1.191 strokes tee to green in the opening two rounds. 

Over every golfers last 36 rounds, Smalley leads this field gaining at least four or more strokes to the field 25 per cent of the time, and his mark of 27.78 per cent gaining three-or-more is tied with Daniel Berger and Matti Schmid for the best in this field too. 

His course history isn’t good with three missed cuts in three appearances, so we’re hoping he can buck that trend this week and lean into the ceiling his has shown this year. 

Model Rank: 2

Isaiah Salinda +11000 / OWGR 158 

Every January I sit down before the start of the season and try to find a diamond in the rough. This year that search led me to Isaiah Salinda. 

Salinda earned his PGA Tour card last year thanks to his play on the Korn Ferry Tour. The American had nine top 25s, three top 10s and a win on the KFT in 2024. 

Here we his KFT ranks 

Lead KFT in Total Driving 

26th in Driving Distance 

29th in Driving Accuracy 

15th in Greens in Reg 

40th in Scrambling 

T29 Bogey avoidance

Salinda’s driving prowess has carried over to the PGA Tour and he ranks eighth in SG: Off the tee through the opening three months of the season. 

His iron play has been hot and cold in 2025 though, and he ranks outside the top 100 on tour this year in greens in regulation and SG: Approach. 

However, last week the 28-year-old gained strokes every day on the field, breaking 70 each day and tying for 11th. 

We saw his name pop up on the leaderboard early after a few rounds the Players Championship last month, so with a spot in the Masters up for grabs to the winner this week I expect Salinda to show some of the dog in him and contend for that spot. 

At the long price of 110-1 I think he provides a better chance to steal a win than some of the other names in his area of the odds board.

Model Rank: 27