Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2024 Valero Texas Open

2024 Valero Texas Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

Opportunity knocked at the Houston Open, but Scottie Scheffler couldn’t close the door on Stephan Jaeger’s Masters dreams.

Scheffler, seeking a remarkable third straight win on the PGA TOUR, had a 5ft putt on the final hole that could have aided his quest for exactly that – forcing a playoff with the German.

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But Scheffler inexplicably missed – something he’s not been doing of late, to allow Jaeger to celebrate the win, lift the trophy, and secure qualification into The Masters field via (almost) the last chance saloon.

That actually comes at the Texas Open this week, where the winner will be spirited into the field at Augusta National, if they haven’t already qualified. There’s still a chance for some to bundle their way into the OWGR top-50 too, which is another of The Masters qualification criteria.

For the likes of Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Hideki Matsuyama, and Brian Harman, who headline this Texas Open field, there’s a chance to tune up their games ahead of the assault on the Green Jacket, while for Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa, there’s one last chance to find some form and confidence.

Others will be eyeing victory at the Texas Open to backdoor their way into the field, but Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tom Kim, and Tommy Fleetwood are amongst those who can relax; safe in the knowledge that they’ll be heading to Georgia come what may.

The last thing the players want is a tough assignment heading into Masters week, and the good news is that they won’t get one from the Greg Norman designed Oaks Course, which is housed at TPC San Antonio.

If the wind blows, the layout can show its teeth, but the early forecasts suggest that won’t be the case – and then the Oaks Course becomes a rather simpler nut to crack. Landing areas off the tee and on approach are generous proportions, and even wayward drives aren’t toast given how short the rough has traditionally been left.

With only 60 or so bunkers, and water in play on just a handful of holes, this is an easy treat for the players in a benign wind – although they will need to mind their work on the Par 4 holes, which aren’t a complete pushover.

Indeed, much of the scoring will be done on the Par 5s this week – anything less than a birdie has to be considered a minor disaster, given that the winning score will likely be in the mid to high teens under par.

Corey Conners will be looking to make it a hat-trick of wins in the Lone Star State. He won the Texas Open in 2019, before returning last year to get his hands on the trophy for a second time. 

The Canadian did what you have to do on the Oaks Course – he drove the ball well, ranked first for SG: Approach, and he even made a few putts….but only enough to see him rank 41st for SG: Putting. It’s all about knocking your ball close this week.

That seems like a setup that will appeal to some players more than others this week, so who make the grade in our 2024 Texas Open sleeper shortlist?

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Erik van Rooyen – 80/1 – There is, typically, only one chink in the armor of Erik van Rooyen’s golf game: his chipping and scrambling.

Fortunately, that’s not a skillset that will likely be tested too often on the Oaks Course, given the size of the greens, so it’s no surprise that the South African has a T14 finish to his name here.

Van Rooyen heads to the Lone Star State in arguably the best form of his career, with a win at the WWTC Championship still in his rearview mirror, plus a recent formline that includes T2 at the Cognizant Classic and T8 at the Mexico Open.

Long off the tee, excellent on approach, and with putting gains in three of his last four starts, Van Rooyen is well placed this week.

Austin Eckroat – 100/1 – If we accept the general premise that accurate ball-striking is key at the Oaks Course, and that some typically weak putters have won here, then Austin Eckroat has to be in our thoughts.

The Cognizant Classic champion is a fairway finder extraordinaire that has been making huge gains on the field on approach lately, with poor putting shows at the Arnold Palmer and PLAYERS hampering his progress somewhat.

But anything close to the putting show he put on at the Cognizant would be enough, you’d fancy, to take Eckroat to the top page of the leaderboard once more.

Sam Ryder – 100/1 – You never quite know what you’re going to get from Sam Ryder, a player with class in all departments but one that rarely delivers an all-round performance.

Accuracy off the tee, and reliability on the greens, have generally been his calling cards, but it was excellent approach play in the 200+ yard range that guided him to a solid showing in Houston.

T3 here 12 months ago, Ryder is one of those players that you feel could win on the PGA TOUR if all the elements of his game together at the same time.

Nate Lashley – 175/1 – After four missed cuts in a row, Nate Lashley was heading into the springtime looking for answers to his golfing problems.

But he found them, to some tune, at the PLAYERS, where he drove the ball well and gained a ridiculous +2.14 strokes on a stellar field on approach.

Was it a mirage? Perhaps, although another rocksteady show at the Houston Open, where he was hitting GIR for fun, suggests his ball-striking is a solid foundation right now.

T18 here in 2022, Lashley can make it work on the Oaks Course when his confidence is high.

Cameron Champ – 175/1 – It would be easy to pigeonhole Cameron Champ as a bomber with little else to offer.

But you don’t win three times on the PGA TOUR if you don’t have class through the bag, and with better recent form to call upon, the Texas native’s game is trending in the right direction.

A huge putting show at the Valspar got him onto the first page of the leaderboard after 54 holes, but it was longer-range iron play that saw Champ shine at the Houston Open. He can let rip off the tee too at the Oaks Course, which is always a welcome state of affairs.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the Valero Texas Open here.

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