PGA Tour Power Rankings: Valero Texas Open

The Valero Texas Open offers one final opportunity for those without an invitation to the US Masters to book themselves a place at the year's first major.

Amongst its numerous criteria, players who won a PGA Tour event between the 2024 Masters and 2025 Masters receive an invitation, so for any players with a gap in their schedule next week, they can fill it with a win in Texas this week.

TPC San Antonio doesn't present a wholly different test to what we saw last week at Memorial Park for the Houston Open; it's a long course and though the greens are by no means small, plenty of them will be missed, particularly if there's any traditional Texas wind.

The greens are the same Poa trivialis players faced last week, though will run slower on the stimpmeter. All in all, TPC San Antonio will present a stern test, and while strong wind isn't forecast, a score around the mid-teens is expected.

Three of the five players featuring in the Power Rankings for last week's Houston Open finished in the top five, with Min Woo Lee taking the title, but who makes this week's list? Find out below.

5 - Ludvig Aberg

After the superb consistency we quickly became accustomed to with Ludvig Aberg, the super Swede has been much more hit-and-miss this season.

An opening 63 saw him well poised to contend for the Farmers Insurance Open before being struck down by illness, prompting a withdrawal from the following week's Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Sure enough, two weeks later he returned to Torrey Pines and won the Genesis Invitational.

Three weeks later at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Aberg made the weekend with a credible one-under-par effort before chucking a 77 in on Saturday, then missing the cut at the Players the week after that.

Aberg missed the cut here as an amateur in 2022, but finished T14 on his first start as a pro in San Antonio last year.

4 - Hideki Matsuyama

While his game might appear to be trending downwards at the worst possible time, Hideki Matsuyama does have a win - in a Signature Event, no less - to his name this season, and his missed cut at the Players was his first of the season.

Matsuyama opened with a double bogey on the second hole and was five-over-par through his first six holes, but was an impressive five-under-par in his following 30 holes, missing the weekend by one shot.

The former Masters champion's driving has been wayward but he's still getting the ball out there, and his iron play was outstanding at the Sentry, the Farmers Insurance Open and the WM Phoenix Open.

He's also one of the best short-game players in the world, and has gained strokes in 22 of his last 25 starts, and if his ball striking is slightly off this week, his elite chipping can bail him out at a venue where he's gone T15-T7 in his last two outings.

3 - Tommy Fleetwood

Tommy Fleetwood will have been disappointed with his showing at the Valspar Championship, especially considering he found himself on the right side of the draw. It appeared to be the Englishman's best chance of a maiden stateside win, but after a disappointing opening round of 72, Fleetwood had to settle for a T16 finish.

It's been the story of Fleetwood's 2025 - and most of his 2024 - despite stellar play, the 34-year-old just can't get himself in the winner's circle, but few courses set up as nicely for Fleetwood as TPC San Antonio.

His lack of distance shouldn't be an issue, while his excellent iron play can help separate him from the field.

In his last 15 events, Fleetwood's worst finish is T22, and his effort at the Valspar was the first time in those 15 events in which Fleetwood has lost strokes on approach. He'll look to put that right this time after a T7 finish on debut last season.

2 - Akshay Bhatia

TPC San Antonio was the scene of a remarkable Sunday last year, as Denny McCarthy came from four back with a closing round of 63 to force a play-off with Akshay Bhatia. Bhatia held his nerve to make birdie on the first extra hole and claim his first full PGA Tour title.

While he's one of the shorter players on tour, Bhatia makes up for it with his solid iron play and elite short game - two aspects that will be tested this week.

Things didn't go Bhatia's way at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but excluding that anomaly, his most recent starts have all been top-10 finishes, including an impressive T3 at the Players.

1 - Corey Conners

While Corey Conners' iron play isn't quite at the elite level it was last year, his ball striking has been excellent in recent weeks. His last four finishes have seen him finish T24-3-T6-T8 with two of those at Signature Events and another at the Players Championship, and he now returns to the scene of his first and second PGA Tour wins.

Conners has also gained strokes in all four categories in his last three starts; his previously suspect flat stick is behaving better, and he's shown improvement around the greens.

The Canadian won in 2019 as a qualifier before winning again in 2023, and there's every chance he can capture a third Texas Open title this week.