- Charley Hoffman is set to defend his title this year. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
• COURSE: TPC San Antonio (AT&T Oaks), 7,435 yards, par 72. Opened in 2010 north of San Antonio, the course lists newly crowned Masters champion Sergio Garcia as a consultant to chief designer Greg Norman. The Oaks winds through Texas Hill Country featuring narrow fairways, bunkers as deep as 12 feet and native vegetation where unplayable lies loom. Five years ago, Kevin Na recorded a 16 at the par-4 ninth hole after struggling to free himself from rocks and underbrush. The general consensus is that the Oaks presents a tougher challenge than the neighboring Canyons course built by Pete Dye.
• FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points.
• CHARITY: Valero Texas Open Charities, which in 2015 became the fourth PGA TOUR event to top $100 million in charitable giving since its beginning. The tournament annually ranks among the PGA TOUR’s top five in charitable giving, raising $10.5 million for San Antonio-area charities last year. The tournament lists more than 150 beneficiaries.
• FIELD WATCH: U.S. Ryder Cup sparkplug Patrick Reed, runner-up a year ago to Charley Hoffman, is joined by Hoffman and 2015 champ Jimmy Walker to lead a roster featuring five of the top 25 players in the current rankings. At No.14, Reed holds the highest ranking. ... U.S. Amateur champion Curtis Luck, fresh off playing all four days at the Masters, will make the VTO his professional debut. He’ll depart the amateur level with the No.1 ranking. ... Jordan Niebrugge, who finished sixth as an amateur at the 2015 Open Championship, is in on a sponsor exemption along with former University of Texas standout Beau Hossler.
• 72-HOLE RECORD: 254, Tommy Armour III (2003 at LaCantera). TPC San Antonio record: 274, Adam Scott (2010), Martin Laird (2013).
• 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Bart Bryant (3rd round, 2004 at LaCantera), Zach Johnson (3rd round, 2009 at LaCantera). TPC San Antonio record: 63, Matt Every (1st round, 2012), Martin Laird (4th round, 2013).
• LAST YEAR: Hoffman staved off Reed’s late challenge to notch his fourth career victory, sealing the triumph with a 10-foot birdie putt at the Oaks’ par-5 18th hole. Hoffman finished with a 3-under-par 69, reaching the finish at 12-under to hold off Reed by a stroke. Reed also birdied No.18 from tap-in range, reaching the green’s fringe in two to impart a little pressure on Hoffman to match the birdie. Hoffman found a greenside bunker in two, blasting out to set up his winning putt. The victory came after nine top-15 finishes in Hoffman's 10 visits to the VTO, including a runner-up finish in 2011. It also proved a nice bounceback after fading on the final day at the RBC Heritage, where he lurked one shot off Luke Donald's lead to begin the round.
• STORYLINES: Hoffman now seeks to become the third man this century to win back-to-back in San Antonio. Justin Leonard did it in 2000-01, followed by Zach Johnson in 2008-09. … Reed, who grew up in San Antonio, tries again to bring some hometown flavor to the trophy presentation. He has top-20 finishes in each of his past two visits. … Ian Poulter makes his final start on a major medical extension, after missing the second half of last season to come back from foot surgery. He arrived at Harbour Town needing $144,669 to secure his card for the rest of the year, and was third after 36 holes. … Luck will need a strong week to beat a couple of recent pro debuts by contemporaries. Bryson DeChambeau was fourth at last year's RBC Heritage; two months later, Jon Rahm was third at the Quicken Loans National.
• SHORT CHIPS: Smylie Kaufman keeps his break short after a week in the Bahamas, where he joined Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas for their second annual “SB2k17” bro-cation that causes a stir on social media. The other three will wait at least another week to get back on the circuit. … Garcia again won’t tee it up on the course he helped design, having played the event just once since it relocated.
• TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS).
• PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 8:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (featured groups), 3:30-6:30 p.m. (featured holes). Click here to sign up for PGA TOUR LIVE.
• RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).
The PGSF rolls back into Texas for the Valero Texas open.
ktnole keeps moving up the leader board after a dominating win at the RBC
Bobcat maintains his lead in the overall standings
good luck to everyone this week
