Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – Valero Texas Open

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2017 Valero Texas Open

The 2017 Valero Texas Open Sleeper Preview

With his victory at the RBC heritage, Wes Bryan was the latest Web.com Tour graduate to confirm his status as a player for now, rather than tomorrow.  Close on a couple of occasions already this season, Bryan finally got home on Sunday and with the added pressure of playing in front of his hometown supporters.  He gets a tick in a couple of boxes for the manner in which he took down the field in South Carolina.

So could this week’s event, the Valero Texas Open, offer up an opportunity for another young star to emerge?  A list of the last three winners – Charley Hoffman, Jimmy Walker, and Steven Bowditch – suggests that experience could be key in the windy climes of San Antonio, Texas.

The eponymous San Antonio GC is our host venue this week, and it happens to be one of the toughest on the PGA TOUR; in fact, in 2015 no non-major course played harder.  Hoffman may have delivered a more than respectable winning score of -12 last year, but he was just one of eleven players under par by the end of the week.

It is of moderate length (7,435 yards) for its Par 72, with thin fairways and hard-to-hit greens.  The dancefloors run at around 11 on the stimpmeter, with Bermudagrass fairways and Bentgrass greens offering a unique blend of challenges.

Charley Hoffman will try to defend the title he won 12 months ago, and with a bizarre two weeks in which he contended for The Masters before missing the cut at the RBC Heritage the jury will be out as to whether he can do just that.  According to the sportsbooks, his most likely source of competition will come from the likes of Matt Kuchar, Branden Grace, Ryan Moore, and Jimmy Walker.

There are plenty of subplots to consider too.  Kevin Chappell, T4 here 12 months ago, appeared to find his best form at Augusta, as did Moore and – to a lesser extent – Brooks Koepka.

Texans have a fine record in this event – Walker is a native while Bowditch is a homeowner in the area, and last year Patrick Reed, another proud Texan, finished one shot shy of Hoffman in the final reckoning.  He will be desperate to get back to his best on home soil.

Maybe a young star will announce themselves to the wider golfing community, much like Wes Bryan did last week.  Ollie Schniederjans has a number of top-20 finishes to his name this term and is a Texan born and bred, could this be his time?

With the likes of Bowditch and Martin Laird triumphing here in recent years, we are happy to consider some betting longshots this week in an event where they could prosper.  That said, here are five of the best fantasy sleepers to consider this week:

2017 Valero Texas Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

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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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