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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2023

Field Update

Player Commitments Include Past Champions, 2023 Masters Participants, Fan Favorites, Major Champions, and More

SAN ANTONIO, TX — The Valero Texas Open returns this spring for its 101st anniversary and tournament officials announced today more player commitments joining defending champion J.J. Spaun in the 144-man field. The historical PGA TOUR stop will once again be contested on TPC San Antonio’s The Oaks course March 30 - April 2.

“Excitement is building as we make final preparations for this year’s tournament. The player field is taking shape, our nearly 2,000 volunteers are gearing up, and the small city that we construct each year at TPC San Antonio is starting to rise,” said Larson Segerdahl, Executive Director of the Valero Texas Open. “We look forward to welcoming this group of world class players to San Antonio as we kick off the tournament’s next century.”

Along with Spaun, those on the past champions list who are scheduled to appear are Corey Conners (2019), Andrew Landry (2018), Kevin Chappell (2017), Charley Hoffman (2016), Jimmy Walker (2015), and Martin Laird (2013).

Major champions joining Walker will be Francesco Molinari, the Italian who won the 2018 Open Championship and will be playing in the Masters, held the week after the VTO. Jason Dufner, winner of the 2013 PGA Championship, returns to San Antonio. Padraig Harrington, a three-time major champion will compete. Harrington has won six times on the PGA TOUR and is currently active on the Champions Tour, where he has won four times.

Two players currently ranked among the top 35 in the world also committed last week. Tyrrell Hatton is ranked 24th and Ryan Fox is 32nd. Hatton, who hails from England, has won once on TOUR and six times on the DP World Tour while Fox is a three-time DP World Tour winner, having won twice last season. Both will be playing in the Masters as well.

A foursome of fan favorites is coming to San Antonio and collectively they have 18 wins on TOUR. Matt Kuchar leads the group with nine victories and Luke Donald, this year’s Ryder Cup captain for Europe, has five. Joel Dahmen, the breakout star from the popular Netflix docuseries Full Swing, and Cameron Champ have a combined four wins on TOUR.

Texans Cole Hammer and Kyle Westmoreland will both make their Valero Texas Open debut. Westmoreland, who currently lives in Katy, earned status on the PGA TOUR via the Korn Ferry Tour finals last fall will make his first start at the VTO. The 31-year-old attended the United States Air Force Academy and in 2021 became the first graduate of that school to make the cut at the U.S. Open.

Hammer, a member of the 2022 National Championship University of Texas men’s golf team, has enjoyed immediate success since turning professional last summer with a T27 and a T5 finish on the PGA TOUR already this season.

Two more international players joining the field include Kazuki Higa, who will be preparing for Masters week, and Nico Echavarria. Higa received an invitation to the Masters based on his performance on the Japan Tour in 2022. He won four times and was on top of the money list by season’s end.

Echavarria earned his maiden TOUR win last week at the Puerto Rico Open. It will be the Colombian’s first start in San Antonio.

PGA TOUR players have until Friday, March 24 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time to commit and can withdraw at any time.

Tickets to the Valero Texas Open are now on sale via Ticketmaster and ValeroTexasOpen.com. As is customary, all net proceeds from the event will go to support hundreds of charity organizations throughout South Texas and well beyond.

Visit www.ValeroTexasOpen.com for all tournament news, updates, information and to purchase tickets.

ABOUT VALERO

Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, Valero), is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products, and sells its products primarily in the United States (U.S.), Canada, the United Kingdom (U.K.), Ireland and Latin America. Valero owns 15 petroleum refineries located in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.2 million barrels per day. Valero is a joint venture member in Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC, which owns two renewable diesel plants located in the U.S. Gulf Coast region with a combined production capacity of approximately 1.2 billion gallons per year, and Valero owns 12 ethanol plants located in the U.S. Mid-Continent region with a combined production capacity of approximately 1.6 billion gallons per year. Valero manages its operations through its Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol segments. Please visit investorvalero.com for more information.

ABOUT VALERO IN THE COMMUNITY

Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, Valero), and the Valero Energy Foundation are committed to improving the quality of life in communities where Valero has major operations. In 2023, Valero, its employees and the foundation collectively generated more than $77 million in charitable support through direct/in-kind donations, fundraising and volunteerism. Valero employees logged more than 127,000 volunteer hours in 2023 for hundreds of projects in their communities. Valero provides funding to a variety of nonprofit agencies for programs and services supporting education, basic needs, health care and civic initiatives.  Through the overwhelming support of sponsors, the foundation’s signature programs, the Valero Texas Open and Benefit for Children, generated more than $23 million raised in 2023 for charities across the United States.

ABOUT THE VALERO TEXAS OPEN

The Valero Texas Open is the sixth-oldest professional tournament in golf worldwide, the third-oldest on the PGA TOUR and the longest held in the same city. In 2022, the tournament celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Its list of champions includes some of the greatest names in golf history: Walter Hagen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Lee Trevino, Nick Price, Justin Leonard, Zach Johnson, Adam Scott, Jimmy Walker, Jordan Spieth and 2019, 2023 champion Corey Conners to name a few.

Since Valero became title sponsor in 2002, the tournament has become a leader in charitable fundraising among PGA TOUR events. The Valero Texas Open, together with its Benefit for Children and Champions fore Charity initiatives, has contributed more than $232 million to hundreds of worthy charities since inception. Please visit www.ValeroTexasOpen.com for more information.

Media Contacts

Stephanie Sage
Valero Texas Open
Director, Marketing & Community Relations

210.345.3839 office

Lee Patterson
Valero Texas Open
Director, Media Relations

704.913.1088 mobile